War of Heroes
by aspiringactor
Summary: A blast rips the walls between universes apart, merging them into one. PeterXKara
1. Prologue

_War of the Superheroes_

It was a scene of absolute chaos. People ran through the streets, in a mad dash for safety as two god-like titans battled it out in the middle of the street. One was looming and ominous. It had a thick black body that bore more armour than skin. In fact, to most, it seemed as though his armour was his skin. And he was strong, to. With one hand, he had swept aside a tank as if it was nothing to him.

Against him stood a man who was much more than a passer-by would take him to be. Unlike his opponent, he wore clear blue clothing, adorned with a red-and-yellow crest, and a red cape. His hair was matted, and his cape was torn. But yet, he was like a cliff against a tsunami. He matched his enemy's strength with his own, blow for blow.

Around the two of them, their respective allies lay about, in various states of being wounded. To the left of the absolute carnage a man with black body-armour and a cape helped a woman with raven hair to her feet, as blood gushed down her arm.

"Your friends have abandoned you, Kal-El," the black-skinned being taunted as he drove his fist downwards, towards the one he had called Kal-El, who blocked the blow. He struck back, aiming for his opponent's ribcage. The blow landed very cleanly, sending his enemy back half a block.

"My friends," Kal-EL spat back as he used his super-speed to cross the distance between himself and his enemy, "are the reason I'm still standing, Darkseid."He finished as he struck Darkseid's jaw, sending him flying once more into the air, only to come crashing down again on the pavement.

"You are strong, Kryptonian," Darkseid spat as he struggled to his feet, reaching for his belt as he did so. "We will meet again, son of Krypton. I-"

"You aren't going anywhere!" a new, female voice shouted from the sky, as the one it belonged to shot downwards,, crashing into Darkseid. Dust rose as Kal-Ell rushed forward, almost afrait of what he might find in the crater. But he needn't have moved, as a body flew out from the crater, carried by two beams of red light.

"You sent the weak to do your bidding," Darkseid taunted as he got to his feet, "how very kingly of you," he finished as Kal-El rushed to the side of his cousin, Kara Zor-El. Kal-El didn't listen to his words, he only focused on checking Kara's vitals, which seemed to be normal. "I shall enjoy subjugating both of you to immense horrors when I return," Darkseid said as he pulled a remote from his belt. He pushed a button, and a circle of energy appeared from behind him.

"You aren't going anywhere..." Kara shouted weakly as he eyes glowed a deep red colour.

"Kara, no!" Kal-El shouted, but he was to late. She shot the beams of energy from her eyes, and struck Darkseid head-on. He stumbled backwards, into the circle of energy. What followed was a brilliant flash of light. Then, nothing.

_What the hell am I doing? _He thought as he dodged yet another bolt of energy. He was currently in the middle of New York, on the outskirts of a pitched battle between the gathered Avengers and a collection of their enemies, known as the Masters of Evil. The two groups had been slugging it out for most of they day, and neither side seemed to be able to gain an advantage. When the Avengers had called for the Fantastic four as backup, the Masters of Evil unleashed an army of doombots. And so, Peter Parker had found himself drawn into the pitched battle, despite his repeated claims that he had no place among the Avengers, given the fact that he was still in high school.

And speaking of school, that's where he should be, where he would be, if it wasn't for the fact that school had been cancelled, on accounts of the evacuation f a one-mile radius. And there where only two reason why he found himself in the middle of the battle. One, he knew he should be there, and two, his boss, J. Jonah Jameson would pay triple for pictures of heroes getting their asses kicked.

And so, Peter Parker had donned his Spider-suit and jumped into the fray. Currently, he was ducking underneath the sweeping, crushing strikes of the Incredible Hulk's arch-nemesis, the Abomination. A being who Peter knew full well was capable of tearing him in half. But only if he could see, so Peter covered the monster's eyes with webbing. He earned a vicious growl in return as he sped off, closer to the centre of the action,, where he knew he could get some good shots, at the very least.

He slid under a series of rockets fired by the Crimson Dynamo before being tackled by a Doombot. The robot quickly raised it's cannon arm, only for it to be lopped off by a thrown shield. Captain America's shield, to be exact.

"Best get out of here, son," the Captain remarked as he caught his defensive tool, "before-" He was cut off by a blast of energy that struck his side, sending him down to the ground.

"Captain!" Peter shouted as he moved to retrieve the super-soldier. At the last second, his spider-sense blared, and he ducked out of the way of a bolt of green energy. His eyes traced along the path that the energy must have followed, finding only a woman in green attire. Peter knew that looks could be deceiving, and that the woman seemed dangerous. He just didn't know how dangerous, until she fired another bolt of energy his way.

He rolled to the side, looking for either a reprieve or an opening. Luckily, he found the latter in the form of a charging Wolverine. The feral mutant distracted the spell-caster long enough for Peter to close the distance between them, and plant his fist squarely on her jaw. _Uncle Ben told me to never hit women...but I'm sure he'd understand the situation I'm in. _Peter thought as he rushed to the left, as two more founding Avengers, Thor and Iron Man, landed.

"Amora!" Thor shouted over the explosions and shouting, "This ends here!"

"No, God of Thunder," The green-clad woman replied as a mystical green field of energy warped itself around her, "It does not."

"Stop her!" Iron Man shouted as the circular arc reactor on his chest began to glow.

"Stark!" Peter shouted, understanding what could happen if he where to interrupt what looked like a method of trans-location. While he didn't believe in magic, he did believe that there was science that humans simply labelled as magic. And when science was misused, it could be deadly for all. "Don't-" But he was to late. Iron Man's chest exploded in a beam of pure energy, and struck the enchantress head-on. A wave of energy washed over everyone, and Peter collapsed on the ground, unconscious.


	2. lines

_**A/N: For clarification, this takes place in what is now a Shared Universe. Some people (basically anyone without powers) have been merged with their alternate counterpart. But the respective heroes are completely intact (only one Spider-man, Superman, Batman, Captain America, etc)**_

"Peter?" a voice called out to him, forcing his eyes open. "Peter dear?" He stared at the ceiling for a moment, not understanding how he had gotten home. The Last thing he remembered was a bright flash of light. _So...did we win?_ He wondered as he got to his feet finally. He could already feel the wounds from the battle. Even with an accelerated ability to heal, he could still feel pain. But he was used to it, and used to disguising it from his Aunt, who knew nothing about his double life.

And he wanted to keep it that way, so he rid himself of the limp as he walked down the stairs. A few more steps, and he was in the living room of the small house that he shared with his Aunt. With his better-than-normal hearing, he was able to hear the news caster speaking. Or rather, two of them.

"_Something unprecedented has happened," _one of them said.

"_Many citizens are still reeling from the effects of yesterday's throw-down between the Avengers and several villains. But something even-"_ The second one cut in over the other.

"_As far as we can determine," _the first reporter continued, _"two universes have merged into one, leaving hundreds of thousands in a state of confusion. Some people are finding themselves with two sets of memories, while others are not. The Presidential cabinet went into an emergency session early this morning-"_

"_Meanwhile, most of the public's attention has turned to the Superhero world. We now have not one, but TWO groups of heroes who have sworn to protect the planet from any and all threats. Whether or not this includes the other team, well-"_

"Aunt May, I'd better get down to the Bugle," Peter said as he rushed into the hall, grabbing his backpack as he did so. "Jameson's going to want all hands on deck for this one. I'll call you-"

"Not until you have some breakfast," his Aunt cut in sharply, causing him to sigh. More than once, he had wondered what kind of superhero his Aunt would have made. On more than one occasion, her words had stopped Flash Thompson and his gang of football players from picking on Peter. And she had also shouted down J. Jonah Jameson on occasion. Which in on itself was a herculean task to be admired. In fact, when it had happened, the entire office had let out a mighty cheer, much to Jonah's utmost and utter dismay.

Computer screens flashed and machines whistled, echoing around the dark cave. A lone, solitary figure with a long, black cape stood in front of a large computer screen. He studied what was displayed before him. Government documents, scientific formulas, public reports. He saw everything, even the shadow of a figure who approached from behind.

"Hello Dick," The capped figure said without moving.

"Damn, I was hoping to sneak up on you," the newcomer, who's name was Dick Grayson, said as he stepped beside the cloaked man. "What's all this shit, Bruce?"

"Everything," Bruce replied stiffly as his hand swiped over the keyboard. "Everything I could find on our new friends from the other dimension. I don't trust them."

"You don't trust your own shadow," Dick replied with a shrug. "Besides, they haven't done anyt-"

"These so-called Avengers," Bruce cut in as he tapped in a command. "Have a very...rich history. Like here," he said as he pointed to an image that showed several heroes engaging each other in a fierce battle. "They knowingly put lives in danger six years ago, when their government put an act together that forced them to submit under the government's control."

"So?" Dick replied, "some of them voiced their opinions in a brutal way. Is there-"

"That's not what bothers me," Bruce snapped as he shut down the screen, and turned to face the former Robin, "It's the fact that some of them agreed to become puppets for the politicians. If they're willing to work for the government, who says they won't work for Cadmus?"

"Well," Dick replied with half a shrug, "we won't know if they're trustworthy until we meet them, will we?"

"People like that are rarely trustworthy," Bruce said briskly as he pulled a cowl over his head, and began to walk away from his former partner. "The Justice League has called a meeting of the founders. We need to discuss what our neck move is before the other side strikes."

"Pot, meet Kettle," Dick quipped as he followed the man into a sleek black vehicle. "I'm coming too. You're going to need all hands on deck for this one, I think." He finished as Bruce willed the vehicle to life, causing it to shoot out of the dark cave.

"Founding members only," Bruce growled as they sped down the roads of Gotham city.

"You where never fully inducted into the team, remember?" Dick smiled as they turned a corner, barely slowing down. "And besides, I think the Teen Titans should have a say in this too."

"Whatever," Bruce said as they disappeared into a tunnel.

"I'm here," Peter said as he rushed into the Avenger's mansion meeting room. He had recieved the call over his cell phone, which worried him somewhat. It meant that at least one of them knew who he was, and possibly where he lived. "Did I-"

"You're late," Captain America growled from where he sat on the long table. Covering the entire perimiter of the room was the largest grooup of heroes ever gathered in one place since the Civil War. And that made Peter somewhat giddy, as it meant he was a part of something big. Way bigger than himself. There where no seats available, so he simply leaned against the wall and listened as everyone else talked.

"Obviously we can't just do nothing," The Armoured Avenger known as Iron Man said as he brought his finger down on the table. "If we just sit by, innocent lives could be put in harm's way."

"And we know this because-" Peter began to say.

"Incident report 1999567" Iron Man said firmly as he turned towards the large plasma screen television, which flickered on. Peter watched as a small group of heroes engaged a large, hulk-like monster that had green spikes protruding from it's joints. Peter watched as the leader of the group, a man wearing a white and black suit with a cape shot twin beams of energy from his eyes. The beams connected with the monster's forehead, effectively lobotomizing it. "Obviously," Iron Man said as he turned the television off, "we can't just ignore this. Some action needs to be taken."

"I think we should arrange for a meeting," Captain America said firmly as he put his hands down on the desk. "Even numbers, and a mutual, public location."

"Agreed," The blonde-haired Ms Marvel said from where she sat, which was on Peter's far left. "One representative from each team?"

"That sounds fair," Captain America replied as he got to his feet. "I'll go for the Avengers as a representative. Tony, contact the X-men, see if they can send a diplomat who-"

"What's wrong with bringing wolverine?" Peter asked with a wry smirk under his mask. All he earned in response was a series of dark glares from around the room. "Never mind..." he whispered as the glares ceased.

"I'll go for the Fantastic Four," Susan Richards, also known as the Invisible Woman, said in a crystal clear voice. "Reed's busy...Ben's out of town and my brother is...well... He's my brother, no explanation necessary. That only leaves me."

"That settles it," Iron Man said with a wave of his hand. "I'll establish contact as soon as possible. We'll then arrange a meeting for tomorrow. Hopefully things will go over smoothly. I'd really hate for this to turn into another Registration incident."

"So," Captain America said with firm authority as he addressed the entire group. "In order to avoid any unfortunate first impressions, no one is to make contact with any members of this so-called Justice league. If they aren't from our universe, don't speak with them, understood?"

"Understood," everyone in the room said, with one exception. Peter didn't quite understand why his gut had begun to churn.

"No Kara," Kal-El, who was known to the rest of the world as either Clark Kent or Superman, said firmly as the two of them walked down the halls of the Watchtower. They passed by a number of other heroes, most of whom seemed to be in a hurry. And Kara could understand that, given the situation they where in. The situation she had put them in.

"Come on, Clark!" she pleaded, "you yourself told me that you wanted me to replace you, if something should ever-"

"I did," her cousin cut in as he came to a halt, turning to face her properly. "But this is serious, Kara. Very serious. One wrong move and we end up with another Cadmus situation," he finished firmly.

"But-" she began to protest, ready to make her case about how she had handled herself in that situation.

"No buts Kara," Clark interrupted fiercely. "Founding members only. J'onn says that we've already been contacted, I've gotta go."

"I can jus-" Kara said as she put her arm around her cousin's shoulder.

"No," he said as he brushed her arm off. "You're already under Batman's radar. Both he and Diana raised some legitimate concerns this morning about your membership."

"They what?!" Kara snapped angrily, furious that the league had been discussing her when she wasn't present. "Of all the-"

"You should be thankful that they didn't excommunicate you," Clark replied as he did his best to wave her off. "It was a four to three vote. I broke the tie. Be thankful for that, at least."

"So what now?" Kara said, as her expression changed to slightly downtrodden.

"Stay here," Clark replied as he began to walk away, towards the supposedly 'secret' room that was reserved for the founding members of the League. "I won't be long. And you've been put under probation. So just...don't travel off the beaten path. And stay away from anyone who isn't a member of the League, understand? We don't want an inter-dimensional incident!"

"Whatever," Kara muttered as she turned away,, and began to walk in the opposite direction of her cousin. _Seventeen years old and a member of the Justice League,_ she thought to herself bitterly. _I can shoot lasers out of my eyes, and fly faster than the speed of sound. Hell, Batman said I might be stronger than Clark! Maybe even the strongest person on the planet! But no..._ she continued her train of thought as she walked past Kid Flash and Aqualad, who where deep in conversation. _He can still ground me like I'm ten years old. It's not fair._ She came to a stop by one of the large windows. She stared out wards, gazing at the planet below, which she had come to call home over the past three years. _There's gotta be something I can do to make things better,_ she thought as she stood, looking at the planet, hoping for an answer.

**_A/N: _**

**_Concrit reviews are welcomed!_**

**_Nerd question: Who's the better tactician? Batman or Captain America?_**


	3. Negotiations

"Hey Pete!" the voice of Mary-Jane Watson called out to him from across the school courtyard, causing him to sigh. Here he was, an experienced superhero who had cheated death more times than he could count, at a high-school. Taking everyday classes like any normal seventeen year old would. Though he knew the day's classes would be focused more on recent events than anything else. As would his own mind.

He was in a constant state of connectivity. He watched social network feeds by using a self-designed program that isolated certain words and phrases. So far, he was getting about one message per minute, something which he knew would be a problem once he was in class. He just hoped that his teachers would be to distracted to notice.

"Hey, MJ," he said as he walked over to his red-headed ex-girlfriend. "You-"

"Question," she cut in, "are you experiencing two sets of memories?"

"No..." he replied, and she let out a defeated sigh.

"You just lost me twenty bucks," she said as she tapped him on the shoulder. "Unless you're willing to go lie to Harry. We made a bet, after all. Whether or not you'd have two memories. He doesn't, and I do."

"Wait...what?" Peter asked, fully aware of the fact that most people had two sets of memories. He had discussed it with his Aunt the previous night. Apparently she only had one set, like himself. And a part of him wondered if that had something to do with him being a superhero.

"Yeah," MJ continued, obliviously. "I can remember living in Metropolis. There was this guy...Superman. He's the resident hero of the city. He could probably do half the things the Avengers do alone. Maybe he'll even put them out of a job or something..."

"Well here's hoping he doesn't come in on my boy's territory," The obnoxiously loud voice of Flash Thompson said. "No flying panzy who wears his underwear on the outside of his pants is gonna knock Spidey down. Though I'll admit that the Super-girl's a smokin' hot babe."

"Excuse me?" a slightly annoyed Liz Allen snapped as she came from nowhere behind Peter. "You did not just say that," she continued as she gave the lumbering jock a playful but assertive shove. Peter could only smile as his one-time tormentor was brought low by someone two-thirds his size.

"Anyway Pete," MJ said as she pulled him away from the amusing scene unfolding in front of him. "Harry and I where talking the other day, when we realized you haven't said anything about your birthday. What'd you have in mind? I know your Aunt's holding a dinner and all. But you're gonna be eighteen. That's something special."

"I dunno," he shrugged, not knowing what the future would bring. Especially with recent events.

"Oh come on," MJ smiled as she patted him on the back. "Harry even said he _might_ be able to get a hold of some entertainment. The kind your Aunt doesn't need to know about, if you know what I-"

"MJ!" he shouted with surprise. Like he would even consider that.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I hate you right now," Kara spat as she stared at her cousin, while they both hung in mid-air. Currently, they where over Kansas, and both dressed in their hero attire. "You know that, right?"

"It wasn't my decision to make," Clark replied as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. They floated in silence as the wind ripped at her hair. "Batman called it. And the rest of the league agreed. We selected those we felt would be best suited to open negotiations."

"Otherwise known as the founding members of the League?" Kara snorted as she mimicked his posture. "Why not give someone else a chance? There are plenty of excellent representatives."

"You're still on probation," Clark said with a tilt of his head, "remember? You're the reason we're in this situation to begin with." He continued as he stared off into the sun. "I've got somewhere to be, Kara. Try not to blow up the farm while I'm away." He finished before shooting off into the distance. Based on his trajectory, and the time of day, she knew where he was heading.

_I've got nothing better to do,_ she thought before she flew off after her cousin. _I'll show him just how capable I am!_ She thought as entire cities zoomed past as she travelled at a supersonic speed. She knew she'd be able to help her cousin in some way, especially if things went awry. And considering some of the research she had done about the other universe's protectors, that was a very real possibility.

_Some of them actually work for the government,_ she thought with disgust as she thought of Cadmus. That particular government organization seemed hellbent on wiping the Justice League off the face of the planet. _What's to stop them from aligning with Cadmus? It's not like they seem to have a problem fighting other heroes,_ She thought as she slowed down her speed, knowing she was very near New York city. Already, she could hear thee roar of the gathered crowd. Thousands of voices bombarded her ears. Luckily, she knew how to drown them out, and listen for the voices that mattered.

She tuned her ears as she floated down to a rooftop, knowing it would be best to stay out of sight. Or as much out of sight as possible, as Clark would still be able to see her no matter what. _The whole super-vision really is a double-edged sword,_ she thought as she made herself comfortable, ready to listen in on the politics, which most likely would be very boring, if not unbearable to listen to. _Sometimes,_ she thought with a sigh, _being a hero is really bori...hello..._ she leaned in closer as she saw a figure climbing the side of a building between the one she was on and the crowd. _And what do we have here?_ She thought as the red-and-blue figure pulled itself onto the roof of the adjacent building.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Well," Steve Rogers said with a confident smile that he used when addressing politicians. "We all know why we're here," he continued as he stuck out his hand, for someone to shake. Had he not spent so much time among the Avengers, he might have found thee sight of a man covered in a glowing green engery, a man shrouded in a cape, a woman in modernized greek armour, a green-skinned alien, a man with a 'S' insignia and another with a lightning bolt to be somewhat intimidating. And he guessed that 'The Justice League' would find the collected Avengers to be a bit odd. As they had discussed in the meeting the day before, the leaders from different teams would be present.

To Steve's left stood Susan Storm-Richards. Beside her was Scott Summers, being a representative for the Mutant nation as a whole. Clint Barton flanked Steve's right, serving as a representative for the Thunderbolts, as he was the most likeable member of their team. Jessica Drew, also known as Spider-Woman stood on the far right, being a representative for S.H.I.E.L.D. Finally, T'challa, the Black Panther made up the last member of the group, representing his nation of Wakanda.

"Obviously," the man shrouded in a cape replied with half a grunt.

"Ignore the stick in the mud who calls himself Batman," the man with the lightning bolt insignia said with half a smirk as he winked, most likely in Spider-Woman's direction. "Hi, fastest man alive. Pleasure to meet you. You can call me the Flash." Steve smiled as he began to shake hands with the scarlet-clad man. Past experiences told him that starting off politics with a good-natured joke meant things where going to go well. And he hoped that things would be the same on this day.

"Ahem," the large man with an 'S' insignia coughed as he took a seat at the long table that had been laid out. Six chair sat on either side of the table, which was on a raised white platform. Steve nodded and took a seat opposite to the man, as did everyone else. "We obviously have a few matters to discuss."

"We do," Steve replied. Although he was getting the impression that this man was honourable, he still had a job to do. He was still entrusted with his country's safety. "Your space satellite," Steve began, "It's armed."

"Decommissioned," the glowing green man, who Steve remembered as being called 'Green Lantern' replied as he placed his hands on the table. "We just haven't been able to find a safe way of disposing the parts yet."

"So it could be activated again?" T'challa said with concern, "programming could be overwritten? That seems like a fatal flaw."

"So is willing compliance with shady government organizations," 'Batman' replied stiffly as he drew out a large folder and put it down on the table. Steve could see pictures that had been taken several years ago, during the registration crisis. "And a willingness to blindly follow leaders without question."

"We can't be above scrutiny," Steve replied calmly. Although he had disagreed with registering heroes, he knew there still had to be accountability for superheroes. Otherwise they could very well become the bad guys.

"I disagree," Batman snorted, "If you're a part of a machine, you can't fix it. Only with an outsider's view can a problem be truly solved."

"And you'd know all about solving problems," Steve replied with dignity as he signalled to Clint, who handed him a briefcase filled with several files. "Wouldn't you?" he said as he pulled out the one on Batman, which showed the man's violent tendencies and unnerving tactics in a war against crime. And as Steve examined the expressions of their alternate-universe counterparts, he knew it was going to be a long day.

XXXXXXXXX

Peter Parker sighed as he took picture after picture. He was kneeling on a hot rooftop, in his superhero gear. _Admittedly,_ he thought as he snapped yet another picture, hoping Jameson would take some of them for the Bugle. _This isn't the most uncomfortable position I've taken pictures from,_ he smiled as the memory of hanging upside-down for over an hour while photographing a crime bust came to mind. _I-_ his train of thought was cut sort by something grabbing his arm faster than he could react and spinning him around. He shook his head in disorientation, coming face to face with a strikingly gorgeous blonde girl, who looked to be about his age.

"Who are you?" she snapped as she held him on the spot with one hand. Despite his enhanced strength, he found himself unable to break free. _Damm,_ he thought as he continued to try and break free, _she's gotta be in Thor's weight class at least. _

"Sorry," he smiled weakly, "can't tell you that. Because that would defeat the whole point of the mask and secret identity which I like to keep a secret." he continued as he ceased his attempts to break free, "not even to pretty female units like yourself."_ Now I'm gonna get tossed into a wall!_ He thought, damming himself internally as he did so.

"I'm warning you..." the girl, who had an 'S' insignia on her chest said briskly as her grip tightened slightly. Peter gulped as she stared him down, almost as if she was staring into his soul with a wrathful gaze. He had no doubts that this girl was both out of his weight class and way out of his league. But, luckily for him, she broke off as soon as clapping came from below, signalling the end of the negotiations.

"Next time, beautiful," he winked before shooting a web-line out over the street, towards a taller skyscraper. He launched himself into the setting sun, unable to get the image of the girl out of his head for some reason.

_**A/N: Well what did you think? **_


	4. Masters of the Legion of Evil Doom

She walked through the streets of New York. Walked, not flew. After all, she was on a reconnaissance mission she had assigned herself. She was determined to learn as much about Peter Parker as possible, after discovering his identity, by staring at his wallet, which was hidden in a pocket inside of his crudely home-made uniform. She had also made sure to capture his face in her photographic memory, so she would be able to find him. For that, she had consulted the Bat-family. More specifically, Barbara Gordon, also known as Batgirl. Being a wizard in computer sciences, Kara knew Barbara was the one to go to. That, and she knew Barbara was a trustworthy friend.

Who had gone on to describe just how good-looking Peter Parker was. And how she would love to spy on him for Kara. Brushing those comments aside, Kara had quickly made her way to New York. After donning a pair of glasses and tying her hair into a ponytail. This both served as a disguise, and helped her function more in the urban environment. In almost no time at all, she found herself in front of the Daily Bugle building. She got the immediate sense that this newspaper publisher was the New York ripoff equivalent of the Daily Planet.

She also knew that this was where Peter Parker worked, as he made a living taking pictures of himself as Spider-man. _Despicable,_ she thought with a huff as she stared up at the skyscraper, using her x-ray vision to locate her target, and her super-hearing to hear what he was saying. She found him in no time. He was standing in a grandiose office, being shouted at by a man with greying hair and a cigar in his mouth.

"I WANTED _DECENT _PICTURES OF THESE NEW HEROES, PARKER! AND ALL YOU GIVE ME IS A COUPLE OF CHEAP ROOFTOP SHOTS!" The man with the cigar shouted vehemently, as Parker cringed somewhat, as the man continued to rant on and on about the quality of the pictures taken. Before long, Kara sat down as she continued her careful observation of the man for another hour, when he finally left the building and came out onto the street.

And that was when he looked right at her.

He nodded, before flicking his head to the side, indicating towards a nearby alley, which he then proceeded to walk towards. His intention was simple and clear, he wished to speak with her in the alley. And that could only mean one thing. He wanted privacy, therefore he had at least guessed at her identity. So it was with a sigh that she proceeded towards the alley, becoming swallowed in darkness as she did so.

"Do you always stalk people after the first date?" he asked from the shadows. Tall buildings loomed over both of them, casting shadows in the mid-afternoon New York sun.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Kara replied flatly, hoping to not blow the entire operation. It could be a trap, for all she knew.

"Really?" Parker replied with a scoff. "'cause I did a little research last night. Flight. Super-speed. Heat vision, Super-strength. X-ray vision. All these powers belong to Superman and Supergirl. So I know you know what I look like. And since you don't wear a mask, and call a pair of glasses a disguise," Parker continued, even as he remained in the shadows. "I know what you look like. So I'll ask you again. Do you always stalk people after the first date?"

"I've got a better question," Kara snapped, as she stared right at him. Hiding in the shadow didn't do him and good, as she could see his face just as if he was in the direct sunlight. "Why where you spying on the league? Where you looking for a weakness of sorts? Waiting to ambush someone?"

"I was watching to see how the negotiations played out," Parker replied as he shifted his stance. "For the exact same reasons you where. I knew something might go awry, whether it be a super-food-fight or a mass terrorist attack," he continued as he turned around, "I was just looking out for John and Jane Doe, so sue me."

"How do I know I can trust you?" Kara snapped as she grabbed his shoulder and pulled him into the light. "And what's gonna stop me from dragging your ass over to the League for questioning?" She clenched his shoulder, just to prove her point. But he only winced slightly at the pressure she applied before he replied.

"Because if you do that," he said as he put his hand over hers. "You'll be starting an inter-hero war. And that's something we both don't want to happen. But it's not like I can stop you or anything, is it?" He finished with a bright smile as she let go of his shoulder.

"I've got my eye on you," she threatened, hoping to scare him in some remark.

"Good," he replied as he stepped near the entrance to the alley. "Make sure you capture my good-looking side. I'd say I'm going to do the same for you, but it's impossible. Seeing as how you don't appear to have an ugly side." She fumed at the comment, after all, it was so like the many that had been thrown her way during her four years as Supergirl. And here he was, saying it as if it was nothing. And what was more, he was just walking away.

_You can't hide from me that easy, Peter Parker,_ she snarled as she hid behind a dumpster, and began to change her out fit to something more suited to flying. She was hell-bent on making sure he wasn't a threat to the league. And if that meant violating their rules, so be it.

"I'm not done with you," she whispered before taking off into the sky.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"And what did you find out?" he asked as he put his hands behind his back and faced his cousin. He didn't use a disapproving or a scolding tone, simply an authoritative one. One that he found himself using more and more when it came to talking with his cousin. Although he loved her dearly, she had a habit of giving him a constant headache.

"Nothing," Kara replied as she hung her head down low. "Nothing yet, but I-"

"You aren't going to do anything," Clark cut in passively as he stared off into the Kansas sky. "While the talks didn't go as well as we had hoped, they didn't go nearly as bad as they could have," he said, hoping that she would understand what he was trying to get at. "So we're still in a tight spot. And everybody agreed that until we can come to a definite agreement, we should try and keep to ourselves."

"But Clark I-" Kara began to protest, as he noticed Ma Kent approaching from the farmhouse.

"No buts, Kara," he said firmly as he crossed his arms and shook his head. "You know I'm going to have to bring this up n-"

"No!" she pleaded as he lurched forward, and grabbed a hold of his arm. "Clark, please don't! They'll-"

"Cut you loose for six months?" he replied shortly as he did his best to calm himself down. Her expression was not helping in the slightest. "There was that incident in Bosnia two months ago. Then there's what happened to Darkseid. And now you almost cause an inter-dimensional war? Kara, you'll be lucky if that's the least they do!" He watched as she gave him a hard stare-down. Clearly, she was very upset about what he had said._ But I stand by it, _he thought as he raised his chin, making a very clear statement. One that she did not seem to like very much, judging by her facial expression. He watched as she took a few steps back, before rocketing upwards into the sky, away from him.

"She's very stubborn," Ma Kent smiled as she patted him on the shoulder. He turned to face his adopted mother, who continued to speak as a smile grew on her face, "she's just like a little boy I used to know."

"I was never that bad," Clark replied with a slight shrug.

"Yes you where," Ma Kent shot back as she hugged him tight. "I remember trying to ground you. You'd just run away, and come back at sunset. On more than one occasion, Jonathan suggested that we put a tracking device on you," she finished with a light smile as she pulled him back, towards the house.

"I'm worried about her, Ma," Clark said as they walked towards the house.

"She'll be just fine, Clark," Ma Kent replied softly as they neared the door. "Mainly because the number of people who could seriously hurt her can be counted on your fingers. And because she's a smart girl. She'll be back, I know she will, Clark. Because you both always come back," she finished as she opened the door, letting him inside the modest building. Already, he could smell the delectable meal she had made.

XXXXXXXXX

"We all know why we're here, correct?" Lex Luthor said firmly as he put his hands on the table. He was sitting at a table with eleven other members. Each with a history as rich as his own. And each with his own personal agenda. But they all had a common cause.

"We do," a man who sat across the table and three seats down from Luthor replied. Like Luthor, this man was dressed in a sharp business suit that spoke of wealth. Since Lex was no idiot, he had made sure to do his research on all those present. The man who had spoken was Norman Osborne, and he possessed a company that could rival Lexcorp.

"We know the capes are talking things out," A man with a skull mask and hhod, who was simply known as the Taskmaster, said as he folded his arms across his chest. His speciality was as a high-profile hired gun. "And I don't know about you, but that won't be good for our business, I think." Lex was forced to agree with the man. He had been foiled by Superman and the Justice League on numerous occasions. Now he was forced to acknowledge that he was in twice the danger. Who knowss what kind of damage the Avengers could wreak on his operations?

"It won't," Another man, this one possessing enlarged muscles that where a side-effect of the venom drug running through his system, named Bane. He controlled a large criminal organization that dealt in everything from human trafficking to assassination of high-profile individuals. "But we cannot take the fight to them, can we, my friends? We cannon give them a common enemy."

"As soon as they reach a settlement," another man, who wore a military suit that looked like it was from world war two, and had red skin over his face, said bitterly. "They will hunt us all down like dogs! We must act, before it is to late!"

"Such harsh words, Skull?" a newcomer's voice trailed around the room. Lex cast his eyes around, to find the speaker. Only to find that no one was moving their mouth. "The answer to all your questions is right in front of you," the voice taunted as Lex got to his feet. "You must learn to ease the tension in your body. It does wonders."

"Who are you!" he shouted as he gazed around the room. None of the others had spoken, and where all looking for the source of the noise, "show yourself!" Silence followed as Lex cast his eyes around the room, looking for the speaker.

"It is the trickster god!" the man with red skin snapped as he got to his feet and drew a gun. "Loki!" he shouted as he swung his arm around, aiming the gun around the room.

"A pleasure, as ever, Red Skull," the voice said as it materialized into a human shape. He wore a dark green armour, with a helmet that had horns on it's top. And the man bore a perpetual smile. "All your problems, solved by a solution that is under your very noses."

"Who are you?" Lex glowered towards the man. He did not like unexpected guests.

"I?" the man taunted, "I am Loki. And I..." he smirked as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Have your answer, Lex..." he continued as Lex felt someone touch his shoulder, and he turned around quickly, to see Loki, with his hand outstretched.

"Then what is it?" Lex snapped. He did not like beating around the bush with people.

"Give them a push," Loki taunted with a smile, "in the right direction. And they will destroy one another."

"Hero against hero," Osborne muttered as he put his hands together, "I like it. How do we do it?"

"I have found," Loki said as he propped himself to sit up on the table, "that the heroes of Midgard are especially fond of the children. I say that we must remove them from the picture."

"We kidnap a child?!" Taskmaster shouted as he shot to his feet, "they will hunt us down in a day!"

"No, my friend," Lex replied as a smirk grew across his face. "I know what he's getting at. Target the youngest, most vulnerable heroes. Make _them_ fight one another." _Get them to be focused on destroying one another, not us, _he thought to himself.

"Precisely," Loki grinned.

"And how do we do that?" Bane shrugged, and the others at the table seemed to share his seemed confusion. Almost everyone seemed to be looking on in anticipation.

"With tools already in your possession," Loki said as an orb of energy engulfed his hand, only to disappear seconds later. In it's place was a familiar black rock. Lex simply smiled as he began to form a plan. A plan that would require all their time and resources.

_**A/N: So, what's so special about the rock? Who do you think these 'Masters of the Legion of Evil Doom' are going to target? And what will the fallout be?**_


	5. Rooftop chat

He slipped under a swinging fist, courtesy of one of the five thugs that where doing their best to kill him. Using his inhuman speed, he snapped his foot against one man's leg, and his fist against another's skull. Both men fell back, clutching their respective body parts in pain.

"Man, you'd think after the Bat-family, some punk in tights would be easy!" one of the thugs grunted before Peter threw him over his shoulder, into one of his conspirators.

"Yeah," Peter mused lightly, "_you _would think that." He ducked once more as he felt that familiar buzzing sensation in his head, warning him of danger. This time the danger was a knife, that sailed over his head. He was forced to dodge twice more before he could retaliate by breaking the man's wrist, something he hated doing. "I wouldn't, however," he finished as he kneed the last man in the gut. All in all, the entire gang had taken him less than a minute to take down. "Seriously, you guys are getting easier and easier to take out. Maybe I should see if I can re-set the difficulty rating. Or maybe not, I don't want my dating life to get any-" He was cut off by his cell phone ringing from where it was on his belt. And his happy demeanour disappeared as soon as he saw the number belonged to the Avengers.

"Come on people," Peter snapped into the phone as he ascended the wall, holding the device against his ear with his shoulder. "I've gotta pay-per-minute," he said as he reached the rooftop."

"Send me the bill," the voice of Tony Stark replied from the other end of the line. "A S.H.I.E.L.D. Spy-drone picked up some super-sonic activity in your area. And since there are no jet-flybys, we assumed it's-"

"One of them?" Peter mused lightly as he arched his back. "And you wanna send out your little scape-spider instead of a shiny avenger who might get dented. Am I right?"

"Look," Stark replied in a tone of voice that was completely devoid of whit or merriment. "Just go check it out, okay? Gimmie a call if it's to much for you to handle, and I'll see who I can scramble," the Golden Avenger finished before the line went dead from the other end. This left Peter alone to sigh as he launched himself skyward on a web-line. _And they wonder why I haven't committed to them full-time yet?_ He thought to himself as he swung around the corner of a high-rise skyscraper. _They seriously have no concept of personal space. Or personal time. I can't believe I had to talk Stark out of talking to Aunt May. _He landed on the side of a skyscraper, the tallest one around, and began to climb upwards.

"if I'm gonna find one of those super-people, best to be up high," he said out loud to no one in particular. "Personally, I hope it's that Super-girl. And that she's in a white t-shirt. And soaking wet. And-" He stopped as he reached the top of the roof, due to the fact that there was another body sitting on the edge of the roof, opposite him. And who had most likely heard him with her super-hearing. "Umm..." he muttered, as he rubbed his shoulder, only to notice that she was crying.

"Can I help you?" he asked as he approached tentatively. _Spider-sense isn't going off,_ he thought to himself as he took another few steps forward, _so I'm in no immediate danger. _He came within an arms reach of her, and that's when she responded.

"I'm supposed to stay away from you," she muttered with a slight tilt of her head.

"And I'm supposed to be making sure you're not up to any nefarious, back-water, less-than-ideal activities," he replied as he smirked under his mask. "Not that I'd be able to stop you. In fact, you could probably be halfway across the world by the time I finish this sentence," he said with half a shrug, "Or not."

"Maybe I did," she replied, still refusing to look at him, "And it was just to fast for you to see."

"That would require you to travel faster than the speed of light," he said as he moved even closer, and crunched numbers in his head. "And if you did that, the amount of friction you'd produce would be enormous. In fact, it would be fourteen quintillion Jules. Or fourteen Hiroshima bombs. And disregarding that, the air displacement would cause global climate disturbance. Wind would be pushed out on either side of your body as you slice through the air. You'd shatter every window for miles by accelerating," he continued as he took up a seat next to her, "Not to mention, your hair would be ruined."

"I'll push you off this building," she snapped with a hint of sarcasm.

"You know I'm right," he smiled as he stretched out his arms. "And I hope you know I didn't mean anything by the wet t-shirt-"

"I've heard worse," she said as she wiped her eyes. "Much worse. In fact, I can hear it right now. Six times over," she continued as she glanced at him sideways. "You know, most people say they'd love to have my powers," she sighed as she ran her hand through her hair, "that they'd change the world. They think it's all saving planes and diverting natural disasters. They don't understand that you can hear every snide remark. That you can hear them say what they want to do to you given the chance."

"I know the feeling," Peter replied with an honest shrug. "There's this guy at school. Big football player type. Ironically, he used to shove me in lockers. Anyway, for the longest time, he boasted about how awesome it would be to have superpowers. And at one point, he even tried to take the credit for being me," he said as the memory flooded back to him.

"And?" she snapped, "you had someone claim to be you. Hardly-"

"Well he got some sense knocked into him when he was kidnapped by the Kingpin," Peter cut in as he leaned back, enjoying the sun as it lowered towards the west. "I had to go in and save his ass. Got shot in the arm too. Guess that gave him a new perspective. But what about you?" He asked as he nudged her on the shoulder, "what's got you all upset?"

"I got myself kicked off the team for six months," She replied as she threw her head back. "Apparently, following you was against the rules."

"Oh," Peter said, understanding somewhat. He had been given strict orders to avoid members of the justice league, after all. _Not like they have any right to order me around,_ he thought with a shake of his head. "you got kicked off your team because you wanted to make sure I wasn't a threat? That sucks big time."

"More than that," she said as she turned her head, so that she could look at him better. "We're all in this boat because of me. Because I did something stupid."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Monitors buzzed and snapped all around him. Showing various feeds of information on multiple screens. Most people would be unable to keep up with the constant flow of information. But not the Batman. He saw everything at once. Police footage, Newsreels, cell phone footage. Everything was laid out before him. And what he was seeing worried him.

"These _Avengers_ seem to be too direct," he muttered as he heard the unmistakable sound of hard-soled shoes hitting stone, and the clatter of silverware that signalled the approach of Alfred Pennyworth, the loyal butler of the Wayne family. Most likely with a fresh cup of coffee, and perhaps a simple sandwich.

"Perhaps you'd like to compare notes, Master Wayne," Alfred said in the dry, sarcastic tone of voice that he frequently used, "Shall I invite them to afternoon Tea?"

"Aside from co-operation with a shady government organization," Bruce Wayne replied sharply as his eyes focused on one screen in particular. "They've been known to murder criminals, without any sort of oversight. And they have a stranglehold on a good number of smaller hero teams, forcing them to co-operate," he finished as he continued to study the screen, which showed a young man in red and blue tights fighting off a seven-foot tall lizard. "And on top of that," Bruce said as he crossed his arms, "some of the lower-level heroes seem rather untrained and-"

"Not everyone was taught advanced martial arts by a terrorist organization, Master Bruce," Alfred replied wryly as he set down the platter. "Food for thought, Master Bruce."

"Thank you Alfred," he said without turning to face his butler. "Take this," he continued as he reached for a small flash-drive, and handed it to Alfred, "To Lucius Fox. It has some rough designs for an EMP gun to take out Mr Stark's suit. And it has some initial readings on Captain America's shield. I want to see if he can replicate it."

"Already planning a party are we, sir?" Alfred replied as he took the small device and slipped it into his pocket. "A little early for that, isn't it?"

"It's never to early Alfred," Bruce said as he returned his full attention to the monitors. "I'm just making sure we're all prepared for what might happen."

"And I pray you don't have to be," Bruce heard Alfred whisper as he walked away. And, deep down inside the hardened man. Beneath the cowl, beneath the billionaire, beneath the warrior, an eight-year old boy agreed with him.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Steve Rogers, known to the rest of the world as Captain America, could not sleep. That puzzled him, as he had slept in the worst of conditions. He had slept through storms, through gunfire. Even in a mud-hole one night. Whenever he wanted to sleep, he simply quieted his mind.

But that didn't work now. All he could do was wander the dark halls of the Avengers Mansion in silence and solitude. Though not complete solitude, apparently, as he found out as he walked out onto the Heli-pad.

"Sleep eludes you, Captain?" the authoritative voice of Thor spoke from where he stood.

"It does," Steve said as he walked so that he was beside the famed Asgardian.

"It does me as well," Thor replied with a sigh. "I feel like this before the Odinsleep. When Asgard is at it's weakest. When I am charged with it's defence. Hordes of unspeakable terrors seek to gain entrance to our halls. Many young warriors fall in the defence."

"That sounds horrible," Steve replied with an understanding nod. After all, he had seen plenty of young men killed during the war. "It never get easier, does it?"

"No Captain," Thor replied with a heavy tone, "It does not. In my youth, I courted war freely. Now I seek a way to end it without suffering. But this time...I cannot see anything but a war. I see thousands dying in the streets of Midgard, all claiming to be fighting for peace."

"Fighting for peace is an oxymoron," Steve shrugged. "We fight for order and against chaos."

"And who decides what is chaos?" Thor replied gravely as he faced the Captain. "Sleep well, Rogers. May peace live in your heart in these troubled times."

XXXXXXXXXX

_**A/N:**_

_**So...Will they resolve their differences, or will something ignite a terrible war?**_


	6. Birthday Wishes part 1

Peter Parker swung through the streets of New York with joyous movements. One swing after the other, he swung. Along with Reed Richards, Peter had been able to calculate his top speed while web-swinging, which was about one-quarter the speed of sound. But he could only achieve those speeds while travelling in a strait line, never while turning corners.

He had had a very eventful week, to say the least. It had started with his rooftop chat with the Super-girl, and then proceeded to go down hill at a rapid pace. On the Monday, he had been forced to deal with a series of robberies committed by a group known as the royal flush gang. That had given him three broken ribs. On Tuesday, he stopped a crime war from erupting. On Wednesday he slept in late, and wound up missing his first class, earning two stern lectures from both his Aunt and from the principal. Thursday had brought him his regular dosage of Goblin. And Friday brought a meeting with both the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, which he had just come from. _Though I wouldn't necessarily call it a 'meeting,' _Peter thought as he landed on the side of a skyscraper. _More like planning to take out 'potential threats.' _He continued with a sigh as he climbed up the side of the building, which belonged to a company from the alternate dimension, LexCorp.

Through the glass, he could see people walking around, minding their own business. He saw a bald man being led by a woman with short brown hair holding a briefcase. But what seemed more interesting to him was the feel of the glass on his fingertips. While on the outside, it appeared to be completely normal, Peter knew it wasn't. By vibrating his fingers, he began to get a feel for the actual density of the glass, finding it to be much more dense than at Avengers Mansion.

Intrigued, Peter moved towards the part of the exterior that was not glass. He didn't need to use any powers to know what material it was. _Lead,_ he thought to himself. _Not the most durable metal out there. Or the cheapest. _His train of thought was interrupted by his cell phone ringing, so he pulled it out and answered it with a, "hey M.J."

"Peter, where are you?" his one-time girlfriend replied from the other end of the line. "I thought you said I could shoot some party plans at you, and you'd give your opinion."

"Yeah..." Peter said as he did his best to lie to her. "I got caught up in something, M.J. can we do that tomorrow?" He said, hoping she would drop the topic. He was wrong.

"Peter, you don't turn eighteen every day," she said firmly. "I'm just trying to make this extra-special for you. That's all. And Harry says that if you don't give your input, he's hiring erotic dancers. And-"

"No," Peter cut in, "I don't want-"

"well then maybe you could be bothered to tell us what you do want," M.J replied harshly, "is that to much to ask, Peter? Or should I just go and call everything off?"

"Oh come on," he said into the phone, as he moved up the side of the building, "don't be like that. I promise, I'll be there tomorrow, okay?"

"You'd better be," she said before the line went dead at the other end. This left Peter alone with his thoughts as he continued up the side of the building. _Man my life sucks sometimes, _he thought as he perched himself on the edge of the roof. _I stop six muggings,come home and get yelled at for being out past dark. Pull a child out of a fire, and my friends think I ditched them. And let's not even bring up S.H.I.E.L.D and the Daily Bugle. I wonder if that Justice League is hiring new recruits?_

* * *

"You called?" Clark said as he floated down onto the roof. It was dark out, easily past midnight. But that did not impede his ability to see the Batman, even as he hid in the shadows. "Shouldn't you be out terrorizing the criminals of Gotham?" Of all the members of the Justice League, Clark trusted Bruce the most. Years ago, they had made a pact. Any Kryptonite that was confiscated would go to Bruce, who would hide it in his cave. Some members of the league objected, saying that it should be in the Watchtower. Clark had stepped in and said that the Watchtower was an obvious target, given that their defences had already been compromised by thieves more than once, and that very few people knew the exact location of the Batcave. Discounting the bat-clan in fact, the only people who Bruce had told where Clark himself, Diana and Hal Jordan.

"Most of them have moved shop," Bruce replied gruffly as he stepped out of the shadow, "The Falconey organization has been cannibalized by someone called 'the Kingpin.' They've moved to New York. And most of the big-name criminals have moved with them."

"And I need to know this because...?" Clark began. Normally, he didn't even come to Gotham City. He always had the feeling that he was unwelcome. And Bruce Wayne's attitude certainly reinforced that idea in his mind.

"Flash says the same is happening with his usual's," Bruce said as he pulled a dossier from beneath his cloak. "Apparently, this is happening everywhere. Everyone's just disappearing off the face of the earth. No major crimes in the past week."

"And this couldn't wait for-" Clark began to scoff.

"That's not why I called you here," Bruce cut in as he handed over the dossier. Clark took it in his hands, but didn't open it, allowing the millionaire to continue, "S.T.A.R labs reported some missing samples last night. Someone slipped past their security and stole valu-"

"Bruce," Clark cut in, "Do you think now is the perfect time to be looking into petty thefts?"

"Clark," Bruce replied stiffly as he crossed his arms. "They stole Black Kryptonite." The got the man of steel's full attention, as he was fully aware that Black Kryptonite was the most lethal form of the radioactive rock. It split a Kryptonian into two parts. One half was naive, the other half was aggressive and unhinged. "Night-" the vigilante began, but Clark sped off before he could finish. He knew that if someone wanted to make a rogue Kryptonian, Superman would be a secondary target. He sped over vast stretches of land at supersonic speed, all the while tuning his ears for the sound of his cousin.

He hadn't seen her since she had flown away from him several days ago. Normally, he would have gone after her, but everything was in chaos at the moment. Now he wished he had done this sooner. He flew around the earth twice before heading for the farm, hoping that she was either there, or Ma Kent would know where she was.

He landed just outside the house, and did a quick scan, finding that the only two occupants of the house where Ma Kent and the cat. No one else was around for miles. _Kara, _he thought grimly, _where are you?_

* * *

She had made a huge mistake. She had done something that Clark, along with every other founding member of the league had told her not to do. She had rushed into a building without booth a plan, and without scouting it out first. And the worst part of it was, she had assumed that she'd be able to handle whatever was inside.

She had been wrong.

Inside, she found a rather fat man in a white business suit, holding a cane. Standing beside him was a man in a combination of silver armour and green cloth. The last man was the only one she recognized. He was wearing thick Kevlar armour that could rival Batman's. Across his back was a long, keen sword. Two guns where strapped to his waist.

Normally, she would have mopped the floor with these guys, but she was doomed before the fight even started. Once Deathstroke pulled out the shimmering green rock, it was all over. She felt herself grow steadily weaker as the mercenary kicked her ribs, cracking them. She stumbled backwards, mustering her remaining strength, ready to put up a fight. But the hired gun was to much for her. He knocked her legs out from underneath her body and brought his boot down on her face.

For the first time since landing on earth, Kara's nose broke.

She struggled to rise, but found that a heavy cane smacking into the side of her head painfull. She rolled with the force of the follow-up blow, finding herself facing the fat man, who was smiling.

"Perhaps," the fat man said as he snapped his fingers. "Some of my men can find a use for you." He finished, as two men grabbed her shoulders, and began to pull her forwards, down the hallway, "Once we're done, that is."

"I'm gonna kick your ass," Kara said as she spat blood out of the side of her mouth.

"I highly doubt that," Deathstroke replied as he kept pace with the two man dragging Kara across the floor. "Even if you take out those two men, The Kingpin, and...where did he go?"

"That man doesn't stay when he doesn't want to," the white-suited fat man replied as his cane clicked on the tiled floor. With her half-closed eyes, Kara was able to see a cell phone on the verge of falling out of one of the thug's pockets. Acting quickly on instinct, she grabbed it, and forced it down her long sleeve before anyone noticed what she had done. "He comes and goes as he pleases. He is the god of mischief, after all," the man, who Kara assumed was the Kingpin, continued as they walked. "How long before her partner comes to the rescue?" the man finished.

"The truck's lined with lead, so he won't be able to see her. And it's been branded under Oscorp, so he won't even be looking in the right place," Deathstroke said, with a hint of pride as the tiled floor changed to concrete. Now Kara's bare knees where scraping against the rough floor. Withing minutes, her knees where rubbed raw, and beginning to bleed. Needless to say, that was painful.

"Get her off the ground," Kingpin said with a snap of his fingers as they turned a corner. "I've got a client who's offered me top dollar for her," the man continued as his cane slapped the floor again and again.

"What does it matter?" one of the thugs dragging Kara muttered. "I thought you where gonna-"

"My _other_ client said that she can be as injured as we like, so long as she's conscious," the Kingpin interrupted as they turned yet another corner. "And he asked me to make sure her legs are in good shape. Apparently she'll be spending a lot of time on her knees." The thugs laughed as Kara felt herself being hauled over one of their shoulders. She realized the fate that awaited her if she didn't escape, and began to run through people she could contact with the stolen phone. _Clark doesn't carry one with him on patrol,_ she thought as she continued to grow weaker and weaker by the minute. _Batgirl...I could call...she's to far away. Two hours...least. Flash...don't know number...dammit, _she thought as she realized that there was only one number that she could fully recall, thanks to her idyllic memory, and still hope that the person on the other end could find her in time.

They passed out a set of doors, towards a waiting truck, that had it's back end opened. She felt herself being thrown inside, but not before a peculiar sensation filled her body. It felt like something had disappeared from her soul, but she couldn't quite place what it was. Not that she had the time, of course. As soon as the doors slammed shut, she pulled out the stolen phone, and began to dial. And as she hit 'Send' a part of her wondered whether or not the person on the other end of the line would answer. He had no reason to help her, after all they where supposed to hate each other.

* * *

Peter Parker brought the steaming pot from the stove to the table. And all the while, his Aunt fussed at him as she brought the plates over.

"I'm not that old yet!" she snapped as she set the cutlery down.

"I never said you where," Peter replied with a smirk as he discarded the oven mitts. "But I was closer, and already had the mitts in my hands. So sue me!" he finished as he sat down, in front of his plate. He began to scoop out the mashed potatoes from the pot as his Aunt continued to rant.

"You didn't listen to me, Peter Parker!" she said as a smile edged at her lips, threatening to destroy her fake scowl. "I'm the head of this household! And when I say I'll do something, then I'll-" she was cut off by Peter's phone ringing in his pocket. He pulled it out as his Aunt scolded him, "No phones at the table, Peter! This had better be important! I can't believe..." Her voice trailed off as he went into the other room, and answered the call, which was from an unknown number. Normally, he never answered those, but something in his gut told him to make an exception here.

"Hello?" he said.

"Help..." a weak voice said from the other end of the line, barely audible to his ears. But still recognizable. "Truck...Oscorp...help..." the voice of Super-girl pleaded weakly. So weakly, that it tripped his spider-sense. And he knew that meant trouble. Big trouble.

"I'm on my way," he snapped before ending the call, and going back into the kitchen to speak with his Aunt. "I've gotta go. Something's come up. Something big," he said as he rushed past his Aunt and headed for the door, stopping only to grab his bag from where it hung in the closet. He burst out onto the street at a brisk pace. Since there where no pedestrians or cars out, he ran at the speed of a car. It took him ten minutes to reach the outskirts of New York. But as soon as he did so, he used his web-shooters to propel himself to the top of a building, where he changed into his proper Spider-man outfit. _Now all I gotta do is find a truck...in New York. Crap. _He thought to himself as he scanned the streets. _Though, she did say 'Osborne' so that narrows it down to...bingo!_ He exclaimed internally as he saw the familiar logo on the side of a truck.

Acting fast, he swung down on a line of artificial spider-silk, and landed on top of the moving vehicle. Crouching down, he felt that the exterior of the truck was definitely lead. And if that wasn't a dead giveaway, the man who climbed on top of the truck from the cab was.

The man wore a multicoloured Kevlar suit of armour, and had several dangerous-looking weapons strapped to his body. Including, but not limited to, a sword and two machine guns. His face was covered by a mask with only one eye. So Peter guessed that the man would have trouble seeing on one side, something he could use to his advantage.

"Evening, Hook," Peter quipped as he crouched low, ready for a fight. He knew that his ability to stick to walls would be crucial to win here, more than his agility. He also knew that he wouldn't be able to jump around as much, or he'd risk falling off.

"You must be that Spider-man I've heard so much about," the man replied in a cool tone of voice. "I can honestly say that your agility is very impressive. You aren't human, are you?"

"Well, Captain Jack," Peter said as he readied his muscles for a fight, "that's still up in the air."

"Fine by me," the man said as he drew his sword, and flicked it so that the sun's reflection caught Peter across the eye, distracting him. But not enough, as Peter still managed to dodge three swings and a stab from the man before retaliating with a knee to the gut. Unfortunately, the man must have seen it coming, and managed to flip Peter over his shoulder as a counter-move.

In retaliation, Peter kicked at the man's legs, forcing him down as he got to his feet. Only to have a telescopic staff swing at his head. The man, who Peter guessed was a mercenary, was dual wielding his sword along with his staff. This allowed the man to keep Peter on the defensive, but only for a short while. Eventually, Peter's foot slammed into the man's sword-hand, and sent the blade flying into traffic.

"Oops," Peter taunted as he kicked at the man's stomach, "fetch boy!"

"I'm not the one who needs to fetch," the mercenary replied as he pulled one of his guns free, and aimed at Peter. Before the bullet could hit him, Peter twisted out of the way. The bullet went through the roof of the cab, and presumably struck the driver, as the truck began to swerve.

Right towards the bay.

"Catch, hero," the man said before jumping off the side of the truck, disappearing into traffic, and leaving Peter to his own devices. He rushed towards the top hatch as the truck hit the guard railing and flew into the water. He managed to pry open the hatch and slip inside before the vehicle was completely submerged. Once he was inside the bed of the truck, he had only seconds to see Supergirl lying on her side before water started pouring in. She looked very weak, and seemed to be unable to stand. To his left was a small, glowing rock the size of his finger. Knowing it might be important, he grabbed it and pocketed it before trying to help Supergirl to her feet.

"Can you hear me?" he shouted over the rushing water, that reached his knees.

"_kkknnnnmmmm,"_ she moaned weakly as he braced her against his shoulder. He began to try find a way out. He knew that they'd drown if they waited until the truck hit the bottom of the bay. And he also knew that he wasn't strong enough to re-open the hatch with one hand, and push her out with the other. His heart began to race as the water reached his waist. They needed a solution. _If only I was that Cyclops mutant guy! I could...bingo!_

"Wake up!" he said as he slapped Supergirl's cheek, forcing her eyes open. "We need a hole in the roof yesterday!" he shouted as the water reached his shoulders. She didn't vocalize her response, she only nodded her head weakly. He watched as her eyes glowed a dull red, and twin beams of energy shot outwards and upwards, towards the roof, which began to melt. As Peter's head became fully submerged, a man-sized hole appeared in the roof, as the metal peeled away.

With a powerful kick, he forced both his body and hers through the hole. He continued to kick his legs, even as his vision began to blacken at the edges. He felt icy fingers reach towards him, stopped only when he felt his head spring above the water. Gasping for breath, he pulled himself, and Supergirl, towards the bank. He set her down against the pier, while he stood in the waist-deep water, checking her vitals.

She wasn't breathing, so he had to act fast once more. He forced her mouth open, checking and clearing her airway before pushing down on her chest in rapid succession. He lifted up his mask over his nose and pressed his mouth over hers while he pinched her nose closed, giving her the breath of life. His actions earned a mighty gasp from the blonde heroine. Her eyes fluttered open, and met his as a small crowd of people gathered at the edge of the pier.

"Thank you..." she coughed weakly.

"I think I should thank you as well," he replied with a smile. "You opened the door, Super-girl."

"Kara," she said softly as she pulled herself up. "My name's Kara Kent. Now we're even. I know yours...you know mine," she smiled as he pulled himself out of the water, and pulled thee green rock out of his pocket.

"Any idea what-" he began only for her to fall over, causing Peter to come to a conclusion. Apparently, the rock was hurting her in some way. _But she was fine while it was in the water...Radioactive materials are shielded while in water,_ he thought as he re-submerged the rock in the water. _So this must be radioactive. And obviously dangerous for someone to have, _he thought before he decided that the best course of action would be to get rid of it. And the only way to do that was toss it into the bay, which he did, so far that he knew nobody would be able to retrieve it without a submarine. His assumptions proved correct, as Kara's eyes fluttered open. "That stuff your Achilles heel or something?"

"Kryptonite," she coughed as she pushed herself to a sitting position. "Where is it?"

"Bottom of the bay," he replied as he hauled himself out of the water.

"Then I guess we aren't even," she whispered as she wiped her brow. "I owe you one. We should definitely do this again sometime, so I can pay you back."

"Tomorrow?" he shrugged, "I'm free for-"

"Tomorrow," she smiled.

**_Concrit reviews are appreciated!_**


	7. Birthday Wishes part 2

Steve sighed as he sat down at the table. He hated talking to the press, deep down. To many questions and too much time wasted. Yet, the press also had it's uses. It was a good way to make people trust the Avengers. So it was for that reason that he had agreed to meet with a newspaper from one of the select cities that had popped up on the map. He had high hopes for this meeting, to say the least. Recent polls had shown that public support for the Avengers as a whole was down twenty percent, so the team needed it.

"Ahem," a crisp, clear female voice called out from the entrance, causing Steve to turn towards the second doorway. In it stood a woman with strait black hair, wearing a power suit. In her hands she clutched a small notebook and a pen. _That's certainly a nice change from a laptop, _he thought as he nodded to the woman, and to the young man who stood behind her, who didn't appear to be over eighteen.

"Lois Lane," the woman said with a confident smile as she strode inside the room. "Daily Planet reporter, I'm here to-"

"An interview," Steve said with a greeting smile as she sat down across from him, "I know. Pulitzer prize winner, correct?" He said as she placed her notebook in front of her, on the table.

"Correct, Captain...Rogers?" she said as she clicked her pen, signalling her readiness to begin. He nodded, and she inhaled deeply before speaking. "What is it that people find more re-assuring about the 'Avengers' over the Justice League,' do you think?" He smiled, as he had been anticipating this as the very first question, and had thus prepared for it in detail.

"Well, Ms Lane," he said as he placed his hands on the table. "I'm a bit old-fashioned, and believe that people need to know who's out there, protecting them. And that they aren't running abusing their power." That sentence had been Tony Stark's idea, not his. To Steve, it sounded too much like a veiled insult. He didn't disagree with what the Justice League did entirely, most of his problems where in _how_ they operated. They had no overseer. Part of the job of the Avengers was to maintain some semblance of control over street-level vigilantes, like Daredevil and Spider-man. And occasionally, that meant more direct action.

"So you're saying you think that the Justice League is out of control?" Lois replied with a firm expression. Not very surprising, since a background check had revealed that she was closely tied to Superman, who was a founding member of the League. Numerous sources indicated that she was involved with him romantically.

"No," Steve smiled warmly. "I'm saying that they have the potential to be. We have evidence of a rogue group of the founding members arriving from another universe. Apparently, they managed to conquer the entire planet within weeks." He finished, noticing the tightening of the woman's jawline. He had definitely struck a nerve of sorts. Fortunately, she seemed to maintain her calm composure and neutral expression.

"And I've heard stories about a superhuman civil war," Lois replied firmly, as the red-haired young man snapped a picture with his camera. "Some might call that a public threat."

"Admittedly," Steve said as he crossed his fingers, "that incident wasn't our most shining moment. But I think we came out better for it. We resolved some things that needed to be resolved."

"And destroyed six city blocks in the process," Lois replied with a sharp tongue.

"As opposed to demolishing entire cities with uncoordinated efforts," Steve said with equal force as he stared the woman down. He did his best to maintain a civil composure as she stared at him with venom in her eyes.

"You failed to mention execution," Lois said with an icy voice as she scribbled down notes on her notepad. "How does that affect your public image? Or do you try and sweep that under the rug?"

"Mam," he said as he cleared his throat. "I don't know if you're aware of this, but I served in the military during the second world war," he continued as he nodded in her direction. "I led raids on some of the camps. I saw first-hand what Hitler did to those innocent people. All of that could have been stopped with a pre-empative target neutralization."

"So could Obama," Lois said flatly as she continued to take notes. "One bullet, and he becomes another JFK. Who are you to decide who deserves to die, and who deserves to live?"

"I don't decide," Steve replied with an equal tone.

"Then who does?" Lois asked as she narrowed her eyes.

"Officials," Steve said as he crossed his arms, out of reflex. "And I'm not at liberty to tell you any more than that." They where getting off-topic, and needed to re-focus the discussion on the topic at hand. He needed to make this woman see things the way he saw them, how oversight was necessary to maintain order among the general population.

"So," Lois said as she continued to write notes down. "I get the general impression that the Avengers aren't willing to cooperate with the Justice League anytime soon?" Behind her, the young man continued to snap picture after picture. He reminded him of Bucky Barnes, for some reason.

"Our methods don't seem to agree with one another," He replied as he leaned forward. "But the last thing we want is conflict. That's why we're doing our best to stay out of each other's way, until things...settle down a little bit more."

"Really?" Lois said as she raised an eyebrow. "You sent out a company memo for everybody to avoid all contact?"

"Of sorts," Steve replied with a confident tone. "We felt it was the best course of-"

"Well," Lois said as she pulled out some papers from her briefcase, and handed them to Steve. "It appears someone didn't get the memo," she said as Steve looked over the photographs. They showed Spider-man pulling a scantily-clad Super-girl out of the New York harbour.

"When where these-" he began.

"Yesterday," she said with a haughty tone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"No hookers," he said firmly to his best friend, who was sitting across from him at the table. "I'd be a deadman once Aunt May found out," he continued, doing his best to conceal a smile, which was not helped by Harry's expression.

"Okay," Harry replied as he cast a sideways glance at MJ, who was also smiling. "No hookers, I promise. But what would you like instead?"

"Besides a decent night's sleep?" Peter said as he folded away the burger wrapper. "I don't care," he continued with a shrug. He really didn't deep down, because if he took previous experience into consideration, he would be forced to abandon the party halfway through, and go stop some lunatic from blowing up the city block. _Not a glorious life,_ he thought to himself.

"You've gotta care, buddy!" Harry said with a smile on his face as he slapped Peter's shoulder. "Eighteen, man! That means you get to vote! You get to go into strip clubs! In a few years, you get to drink! You can..." he continued, but Peter paid him no attention. Instead, his attention was drawn towards a man standing near the back of the food court, with a grim expression. To the average onlooker, this man would be inseparable from the crowd, with his dark blue jeans, his biker jacket and short-cropped hair. But Peter knew better, much better.

"I've gotta go," he said as he got up from the table. "I'll be back, I've just gotta go...do something," he finished as he turned and headed for the man, leaving his two friends somewhat speechless. He walked past the man, who began to follow. He headed towards the door. After exiting the building, he turned down a small nook between walls. All the while being followed by the man. "So you've resorted to stalking me?" Peter half-snapped at the man, who was really Steve Rogers.

"Stark's had your phone bugged for weeks," Captain America replied as he crossed his arms across his chest. Peter was not intimidated in any way. He had faced worse sights. "But I'm not here to talk about the policy of keeping tabs on reserve Avengers. I'm here," he said as he pulled out a photograph out of his pocket. "About this," he said as he handed the picture to Peter, who sighed. It was of him, from the previous day when he had rescued Kara from the truck.

"Looks like it was a professional shot," he quipped as he handed the picture back. "Maybe I'll see if I can get some pointers from-"

"I want to know why you disobeyed a direct order," the Captain snapped crossly. "Stark and I made it _very_ clear that all Avengers where to avoid contact with members of the Justice League at all-"

"But she's not a member," Peter offered up, "Technically, she's been taken off their roster-"

"And how would you know that?" Captain America replied as he placed his hand on Peter's shoulder. He glared down at him, causing Peter's usually calm and focused demeanour to fracture. "That wasn't the first time you've worked with her, is it?"

"It is," Peter said as he broke the stare-down. "But we've met before. During the peace talk, she cornered me on a building," he said with a slight shrug. "And she tracked me down after work the next day."

"How?" the Captain barked.

"X-ray vision," he replied as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "She saw right through my mask. And into my wallet. One quick Google search and she's standing outside the Bugle. I guess she caught my phone number as well, because I didn't give it to her." A moment of tension existed between the two heroes, both old and new. Peter saw the contorting lines on the Captain's face.

"You're on good terms with her?" the patriotic hero asked.

"Relatively good," Peter replied with a slight shrug.

"Then I want you to be careful," The Captain said in a less harsh tone of voice. "You've got an opportunity to build a bridge here. I want you to do just that," Captain America continued. "Maybe we can work that angle. Do a few team-ups get her to trust you. Get her allies to trust you. Maybe then-"

"You want me to be a pawn?" Peter snapped, cutting the man off in his tracks. "You want me to just 'work an angle' like it's some sort of mission?" He continued as he took a step back, away from the man. "Last time I checked, I wasn't one of your soldiers. I'll do as I please and-"

"Parker," The Captain barked. "We're on the cusp of war here! This is no time for you to be second-guessing me. I'm ordering you to-"

"Good luck with that," Peter replied with a huff as he jumped up, onto the roof of the mall. Underneath his street clothes he wore his Spider-gear, so it was only seconds before he was swinging from rooftops of skyscrapers. The New York noon air relaxed him somewhat. _Of all the things..._ he muttered internally as he swung over the city. His city.

It hadn't been that long ago that people began to affectionately refer to him as the heart of the city. That title had pleased him somewhat, and served to restrain the constant hate he got from the likes of J. Jonah Jameson. He certainly worked hard at it, and had more than once considered getting rid of Peter Parker altogether, and becoming Spider-man full-time. That would give him the time he needed to commit to the Avengers fully, and he'd still have plenty of time to work the streets.

The downside to that would be no Aunt May. No Mary-Jane. No Harry Osborne. His entire life would be that of a superhero. Sure, the city would be better for it. But would he? He knew he'd be able to handle it for a few weeks, maybe a few months. But eventually, he'd begin to crack under the immense pressure. In fact, it was a miracle that he hadn't cracked already. His train of thought would have continued, but it was interrupted by someone tapping on his shoulder. He turned around to see the floating form of Supergirl. She wore her mid-riff exposing outfit, complete with the red skirt and cape, and the blue top with the 'S' shield. Her blonde hair flew freely in the wind as she smiled at him.

"Aren't we supposed to be avoiding one another?" he said with a wry smile, for her alone to see.

"Fine then," she replied with an equally wry smile, "get out of _my_ city."

"You're the one who can fly at the speed of sound!" he smirked as he crouched on a gargoyle that jutted out from the rooftop. "You could outstrip me on a bad day...well an off-day, at least. Glad to see you're all patched up from that little dip in the water yesterday."

"Thanks," she said as she sat down next to him, letting her feet dangle over the edge of the roof.

"What was that stuff anyways?" Peter asked with a slight shrug. "Hard to believe a little rock like that can do that to someone like you."

"Kryptonite," she spat as she tossed her hair back. "Radioactive pieces of Krypton, my home planet."

"Wait," he said as he faced her, "you're an alien?"

"Yeah," she replied with a slight shrug as she smiled at him. "Krypton was doomed. Blowing up, in fact. My parents sent me on a shuttle, bound for earth after my baby cousin Kal-El."

"Wait, you're 'baby' cousin?" he asked, "As in the one who-"

"Yeah," she winked playfully as she continued, "my ship got caught in a meteorite for thirty years. I was in stasis, so I didn't age at all. I'm both older and younger than him, in a way," she said as Peter felt something brush against his hand. When he looked, nothing was there, which puzzled him somewhat.

"So," he said as he did his best to ignore her alluring pose. "That stuff's like your Achilles heel?"

"My what now?" she asked.

"Achilles heel," Peter answered as he leaned back. "My Greek Mythology is a bit rusty, but Achilles was a warrior who was invulnerable, save for his heel. One day, somebody shot him there with an arrow, and he died."

"Yeah," she smirked slightly, "that's it. It gives off a deadly radiation," she shrugged as she twirled a strand of hair, "It takes about twenty seconds to take effect. In ten minutes, all our powers are gone. Two hours, and well..."

"Radiation?" he replied, "I'm not gonna get an extra set of arms, am I?"

"No," Kara replied, "the radiation disrupts the photo-nucleic process that gives us...me and Kal our powers. Photo-nu-"

"Is a form of photosynthesis," Peter cut in as he rapped his knuckles against the gargoyle. "But much more efficient. The energy is absorbed directly into the structure of the cell. Not wasted in the transformation process," he continued as she gave him a puzzled look, to which he replied, "science nerd, sorry."

"Wow," she smiled with a wink. "Brains like that _and _a body to match? Your girlfriend must be so lucky."

"Don't have one," Peter shrugged.

"Well then I guess the ladies don't know what they're missing," she smiled as the two of them stared off into the distance. "Of course I've heard that being in a relationship makes you more desirable. So you know, if you get seen with someone, ladies will line up at the door," she sighed before continuing. "What does the city sound like to you?"

"Huh?" he replied, unsure of the question.

"I've gotta tune so much out," she replied, "so that I can concentrate. And even then, so much of it is fine details. Heartbeats. Coughing. Keys sliding into locks. That kind of thing."

"You hear people's heartbeats?" he asked with a sideways glance.

"Yeah," she said as she turned back to face him. "And yours just picked up. Something making you nervous?" She said as her smile grew even larger. For some reason, her features seemed to defy the odds and brightened by the second. "And again. You might want to get that checked out."

"hey," he replied, "it's not my fault. You're the one sitting there batting your eyelashes at me."

"Why?" she smiled as she batted her eyes again and again. "Is it bothering you?"

"It might bother your boyfriend...if you have one," he said as he cleared his throat.

"I don't," Kara said, reassuringly. "Most guys probably couldn't handle a girlfriend that can bench-press an airship," she continued before perking her head up. "I've gotta go. A hurricane just hit Europe. Listen..." she muttered as she floated in front of him, "I really know I shouldn't pry and all...but I couldn't help but notice that tomorrow's your birthday. Got any special-"

"Not really," he replied with a slight shrug as he got to his feet. "A couple of my friends are trying to convince me to go to a strip club. Key word is trying. But other than that I...nothing, really."

"You think it'd be cool if I stopped by?" she asked as she pushed her hair behind her ear. "I don't wanna overstep-"

"No," he cut in. "No problem. Stop by if you want. Though won't Mr big-and-blue throw a fit?"

"He said I couldn't stalk Spider-man," she smiled, "He never said anything about stalking Peter Parker."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_**A/N: Things are falling into place quite nicely, aren't they? Peter is certainly going to have to be carefull with his heartbeat around Kara! (who can blame him, seriously?)Who do you think Peter would find more intimidating if he where to meet (from DC) Superman or Batman?**_

_**On another note: Anyone read Superior Spider-man 19? I couldn't help but notice several panels dedicated to someone (who was hidden in shadow) breaking out from under some rubble, while SpOck was accessing Peter's memories. **_


	8. Birthday Wishes part 3

"I still don't see why it has to be this way," The Flash, also known as Wally West said as he put his arms on the table. All around him, his fellow superheroes bore grim expressions. "It was the lack of communication that led to the cold war, remember."

"This is a slightly different situation," The dark-haired beauty to Flash's left said. She clicked her silver bracelets against the table as she continued, "there's no government involved here. No politics. Maybe we should just let everything go-"

"We've gone over that," the muscular man at the head of the table cut in. "I don't think they can be trusted. Not until they roll over," the Superman sighed as a series of nods resounded about the table. Flash was the only one who seemed to disagree with his words, and decided to speak up. Someone had to, after all.

"Who's to say they aren't right?" Flash offered with a shrug, earning a series of stares.

"Excuse me?" the being of pure energy known as Captain Atom said as he folded his arms across his chest. "Some of the things they've done are absolutely unforgivable. We can't afford to overlook that. I say we make a motion for the government to shut them down permanently. They couldn't before, now we can add our own muscle to the operation."

"People would end up getting hurt," Flash replied stiffly. "It'd be an act of war. If they where to try and arrest us, would we give up easily?" he finished with a gulp. Every member of the league, which meant over fifty eyes, was looking at him. If he hadn't been nervous before, he was now. The large auditorium in the hall of Justice was deathly silent, until the silence was broken.

By Batman, of all people.

"He's right," the caped crusader said in a gruff tone of voice. "We need to investigate the Avengers and their allies further."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Wonder Woman asked with a tilt of her head.

"I've set up surveillance on several members," Batman said as he stood up from his seat. "Only time will tell if they can be trusted or not. Now I've got to go back to Gotham." With that, the caped crusader left the room, leaving all to be somewhat stunned.

"Meeting adjourned," Wonder Woman said as she got to her feet. Soon, the room began to empty itself. Eventually, Wally found himself in a deep conversation with Superman and Wonder Woman. "...have been going well with Wakanda."

"That's some good news at least," Superman replied as he clapped his hands together. "Hopefully Aquaman and this Namor can reach a similar agreement."

"You've met Aquaman, right?" Wally replied with a slight scoff, knowing first-hand how stubborn and aggressive the King of Atlantis could be. Superman seemed to agree with him on that, as he nodded. "Of all of us, he's the most likely to start a fight," the scarlet speedster finished.

"If Batman and his surveillance techniques don't do the job first," Wonder Woman said as she gathered up some papers. She had just voiced one of the many concerns Wally had about some of the Dark Knight's methods. They could be rather unforgiving. "Clark, how's Kara doing with her suspension?"

"She's eighteen," Superman huffed as his shoulders dropped. "She hates me for it. She won't talk to me at all. Not even after the other day's incident," the man of steel sighed. "I've seen her twice in the last week. And one of those times was over China, but she disappeared under cloud cover. I...I don't know what to do. I mean, If I knew what I did wrong..."

"You kicked her off the team," Wally replied as he placed his hand on the man's shoulder. "That might be a good place to start. Then consider that it's probably really hard to try and make a name for herself in your shadow."

"That still doesn't explain why she wouldn't at least have called for backup," Superman said with a huff as he crossed his arms. "I've had her pulled out of that Truck in ninety seconds flat, even if I was on the Watchtower," he half-snapped, "as opposed to how long it took-"

"Easy Clark," Wonder Woman said softly but firmly. "Consider that she's forming a decent relationship with one of them. That could make things go over a lot smoother in the end." At those words, the man of steel simply looked out the window, before departing rather quickly.

"Or he could wind up killing the guy," Wally shrugged.

* * *

"Peter dear!" his Aunt's voice rang out from the kitchen. "Someone's at the door for you!" she said as he made his way into the upstairs hallway and down the stairs. His hopes at who was at the door were dashed though, as he saw a man in a sharp business suit, accompanied by a woman holding a briefcase. The man reeked of confidence, and of a life in pleasure that looked as though it rivalled Tony Stark.

"Can I-" Peter asked as he gingerly extended a hand.

"Lex Luthor," the man said as he took Peter's hand and shook it inn a powerful grip. "I would say I've had you on my radar for quite some time, but that would be a lie," the bald man said as a wry grin crossed his face. "But ever since...that happened," the man continued, "you've been on the top of the list."

"What list?" Peter asked as he blinked, as the setting sun began to get in his eyes.

"Every year," Luthor smiled warmly as Peter saw his Aunt standing in the background, waiting, "I hand-pick ten of the brightest young minds and set them up at local branches of LexCorp. You're number seven. Congratulations, Mr Parker." Luthor said as he clapped Peter's shoulder with an open palm.

"I uh..." Peter stuttered, unsure of what to say to the man. Luthor looked like a man who was used to getting his own way all the time. Not someone that Peter wanted to piss off. So he just stood there, on the spot, wondering what was going on.

"I'll have my assistant handle the details," Luthor smiled as he began to walk away. "She'll send them here in the morning," he finished as he stepped into a sleek black limousine, which drove away promptly, leaving Peter completely perplexed. Even as Harry pulled up in his car only moments later, he was somewhat lost.

"Come on, Tiger!" MJ shouted from the passenger seat, "I told you, we're all going crazy tonight!"

* * *

"Long day, Tony?" where the words that greeted him as he entered the main lobby. He held a glass of wine in his hand. In the room, Steve Rogers and Jessica Drew waited for him patiently. Neither of them where in uniform, but Steve was buffing his trademark shield with wax.

"You have no idea," the Iron Avenger replied as he took a seat. "I'm losing half my business customers to Wayne Industries. My investors are in a frenzy," he sighed as he took a sip of wine, and relaxed into the chair. _This merging of universes is definitely bad for business, _he thought as he took a second sip. "And to top it all off, the Mark 45 isn't working."

"Bummer," Steve replied as he ran his cloth over the shield again. "What'd you lose? Couple million dollars?"

"Yep," Tony said as he put his feet on the rest. "Six million, to be exact."

"Oh you _poor_ thing," Jessica snorted sarcastically. "That must be _so _difficult. Having that much money to lose and all." Steve repressed a snort as Tony gave his fellow Avengers a hard stare.

"I'm the one paying for this building, you know that?" he replied as he set the glass down on the coffee table. "If Stark Industries goes bankrupt, I'll have to sell the Quinjets."

"Aren't you worth several billion?" Steve Rogers smirked as he continued to run the rag over his shield.

"Give or take a million or two," Tony said, only to realize that the Captain was being somewhat sarcastic. He gave a defeated sigh as he began to understand that he would earn no sympathy from his two fellow Avengers. Not over his lost wealth, at least. Mainly because he still had more than either of them would ever have. "Shut up," he muttered as the two Avengers exchanged looks. Their sarcastic expressions disappeared, however, when the wall exploded.

Immediately, Tony sprang into action. He pressed a button on his watch, which would summon his armour to him in minutes. Unfortunately, that seemed to be to long, as a fist swatted him aside. He knew there would have been a follow-up blow, if it weren't for Captain America's shield slamming into the blonde-haired attacker. Instead, the blow was re-directed towards the captain, who rolled to the side as a yellow ball of energy struck the attacker from behind. In retaliation, the attacker tossed Spider-woman through a wall to Tony's left. _Shit_ was the only thought that ran through his mind as he prayed that his suit would arrive before he was killed.

* * *

"Ma, I'm home!" he said as he approached the farm house. As he reached the top step, he scanned the house, hoping that there would be more than one body inside. He was fortunate, as there was one person in the kitchen, and another in the upstairs. He opened the door, just as his adopted mother walked into the hall.

"Clark," she smiled as she wiped her hands. "You're just in time for supper. Come into the kitchen and I'll-"

"That'd be great, Ma," Clark replied with a smile as he put a hand on her shoulder. "But I think I need to talk to Kara first. I-"

"You'll have to be quick about it," Ma Kent replied as she folded her arms across her chest. "She's got somewhere to be tonight," she continued with a smile, "and by the looks of things, it's somewhere special."

"How can you tell?" Clark asked.

"I may not be able to see through walls," Ma Kent smiled as she turned around and headed for the kitchen. "But I can see the little skip in her stride. And I know that when a woman takes so long to brush her hair, she's making sure that it's perfect. So be quick if you want to talk to her," Ma Kent said as she disappeared into the kitchen entirely, "and don't ruin the evening for her. If you do, she won't forgive you. And neither will-" She stopped as the sound of a television's volume increased.

"Ma?" he asked, somewhat concerned.

"Kara, get down here!" She shouted as Clark entered the kitchen, and his eyes fell onto the television.

"What?" Kara muttered as she came down the stairs, and entered through the other door.

* * *

"I said no!" Peter shouted as they up the door to Harry's Penthouse, which revealed a host of scantily-clad women. A number of whom where dressed in skimpy imitations of his Spider-suit. That did not impress him in any way.

"You said no strippers or hookers," Harry replied with a grin as two of the women approached. "Nothing about erotic dancers, pal. Besides, I thought you'd enjoy the theme," he smirked as the two dancers took Peter by the arms and began to pull him away. "And they weren't cheap, by the way buddy. So a thank-you is in order."

"Don't worry," Peter replied with gritted teeth, as someone turned the television on, "I'll find a way to repay you. Count on it. I-" He was cut off by a loud gasp, and he turned to face the television. What he saw shocked his core.

The Avengers Mansion had been reduced to rubble. Columns of black smoke rose from what remained of the structure. Small fires where peppered about the area. And a ring of people had gathered around the perimeter, watching silently.

"_We are live on the scene at the remains of Avengers Mansion. Just seconds ago,we saw Captain America being thrown out of the remains of a wall by an unknown assailant. Eye-witnesses also say they saw flashes of light from inside, leaving many to wonder the fate of Tony Stark, who was seen arriving on location less than an hour ago. We are now faced with a perplexing question: Will the Justice League come to the aid of the Avengers? I-"_ A sonic boom cut the reporter off, as a small black shape shot upwards, before pausing mid-air. _"Quick, get a shot of-"_ The reporter began, but she was too late. The figure flew off to one side. And Peter didn't have to wait long to find out what direction it was heading in. Given the fact that it, or rather _she_ blasted through the wall of the penthouse.

As the dust flew about the room, everyone made a mad dash for the door. Peter made sure that everyone got out before he turned to face the figure, who he could now see clearly. She wore a pair of tiny jean shorts, and a black leather jacket which was left open. Underneath the jacket, she wore nothing but what looked like a black bikini top. Her blonde hair billowed in the wind, but it didn't hide her face in the least.

"Kara?" he asked, and the figure smiled a wicked smile. His spider-sense blared, only it was to late. He found himself flying through the air and crashing into the television. He fell to the floor in a heap, and did his best to get to his feet. But again, he was to slow. She picked him up by the neck, and held him on the spot. And that's when she did something completely unexpected.

She kissed him. Not a passionate kiss. And not a tender one. But more of a method of foreplay. He almost found himself unable to breathe as she shoved her tongue inside his mouth, completely overpowering him in every sense. In retaliation, he mustered his strength and sent it into his fist, which he sent into his palms, which he slapped against her ears. His hope that the blow would disorient even someone with her strength was met, as she dropped him.

"Wow," she smirked as she kicked him in the stomach. "I guess that little showdown with the Avengers took more out of me than I thought," she continued as she dragged him to his feet, and struck him in the stomach. It hurt like hell, but he hoped that was the worst she could dish out, in her self-described diminished state. "I guess I'll drag this out," she smiled as she grabbed him and flew out the window, and out over the street.

"What the hell are you doing?" he shouted as he slammed his fist into her side. The force of the blow forced her off-course, and into a construction site. They both tumbled in the dirt, but Peter was quick to his feet. "Kara, what're you-" She inhaled quickly, then released a massive gust of wind, which tossed him backwards, into a half-build wall.

"This is so...exciting, isn't it?" Kara said in a highly seductive tone as she rushed forward, crossing the distance between them in less than a second, and pinning him against the wall. She ran her hands up and down his body as she kissed his neck. "I can hear your heart beating faster, Peter." she smiled between kisses. "I can feel your blood pulsing. I can see that you're... Happy," she continued as she caressed his cheek, while using her other arm to keep him restrained, despite his attempts to break free. "Now," she said as she took her restraining hand away, "I-" he forced his knee into her abdomen, forcing her back, and allowing him to retreat somewhat.

He made a desperate break for a series of concrete tubes, hoping that they might minimize her movement abilities to a degree that would even up the fight a bit. He was wrong, as she simply landed in front of him, and crushed the tubes into dust.

"Now that wasn't very nice," she said as she removed her jacket, and tossed it aside. "I went and got all dressed for you, and you can't even be bothered to please me as a woman?" she said as she once more crossed the distance between them. But this time he was ready. He brought his foot down on an I-beam that had been discarded. The other end of the metal beam struck Kara's face hard and sent her to the ground. He picked up the I-beam and swung it in a circle. But as he came around for the blow, her face was inches from his. He felt something strike his ribs, and he dropped his improvised weapon.

"Why're you-" he began, only to have her fingers wrap around his jaw.

"Because I can," she replied with an evil expression. "I can do whatever I want with these powers," she continued as she lifted him even higher. "Look, with one finger, I can break three ribs." she said as she made good on her statement. "Now, don't struggle..." she cooed as she tore his shirt off his body with one simple motion.

"Just..." he began to say, but stopped as he felt her fingers tighten around his jaw, breaking it.

"I didn't say you could speak," she replied as she tossed him on the ground. As before, he didn't have time to get up, as she placed herself on top of him. With a gleeful cackle, she racked her fingers across his chest as she wrapped her legs around his waist so tightly that he could feel her body heat. He squirmed as she leaned down and ran her tongue along his neck. Luckily, this distracted her from in incoming threat, in the form of Iron Man.

An explosion rocked the area, rendering him completely unconscious.

**_A/N: So, a wrench has been thrown into the mix of things, hasn't it? _**

**_-What did you like?_**

**_-What didn't you like?_**

**_-what do you think's gonna happen next?_**

**_-Any particular characters you'd like to see?_**


	9. Fallout

A knock at her door got May Parker's attention. She had been sitting in the living room quietly watching television alone, while Peter enjoyed what remained of his Birthday. She didn't know where he had been taken by Mary-Jane and Harry Osborne, but she trusted her nephew's judgement. And she also knew that it was his eighteenth, and that it should be extra-special. _He's not ten any more,_ she thought with a slight smile as she got up from her chair and made her way to the door, getting a slight shock when she opened it. Standing on her doorstep was a girl, who looked to be about Peter's age. She was dressed simply, wearing dark jeans, a white T-shirt with a denim jacket over top. Her blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail, and she wore pair of glasses.

"Can I help you?" may asked, slightly perplexed.. She had never seen this girl at any of Peter's school functions. Of course, she hadn't been to one in two years. But still, she was fairly certain of who was in his social circle.

"I'm uh..." the girl muttered as her gaze wandered slightly. "I'm looking for Peter? Peter Parker? I'm a friend of his from...work" she said as she re-focused her gaze on May, who knew the girl was lying about something. She just didn't know what it was yet.

"I'm sorry," May said in a steady tone of voice. "But Peter's not home right now, I-" she paused as a police car pulled down the street. To her horror, it came to a stop just outside her house. Both May and the girl gasped as two men in police uniforms stepped out of the car, and headed for the driveway.

"Mrs Parker?" the shorter of the two men, who was also beginning too bald said. Both men wore sharp suits that almost looked out of place on a police officer.

"Yes?" May replied as she folded her arms across her chest. Something deep down inside her soul said she wasn't going to like what the men had to say to her. "What do you want?" The two men exchanged glances nervously before clearing their throats.

"Mrs Parker," the man said as he stepped forward. "There's been an...incident. We need you to come with us."

XXXXXXXX

"Batman!" Richard 'Dick' Greyson called out as he rushed out of the ellevator, and bolted down the stone stairs. He dressed himself in his Nightwing attire as he ran with perfect precision. "Barbra! Tim!" he finished as he reached the bottom step. It had been all over the news when he turned the television on. And he didn't need to be the world's second-greatest detective to know what it meant was about to happen. Hopefully, Bruce was still down in the batcave.

"Dick, what's wrong?" asked the voice of Barbra Gordon, also known as the Batgirl. She was still dressed in her civilian attire, and had her long red hair flowing down her back. She stood at the top of the second staircase, with her arms folded. "Bruce gave us all the night off. He's got a funct-"

"Get him on the phone," Dick said in a commanding tone, which was normally used by only Batman himself. "And find Tim," he said as he sat down at the Batcomputer's chair. Numbers and images began to flash before his eyes as Barbra spoke into her cell phone, most likely to Alfred, Bruce Wayne's butler.

"Tim's in New York with Sandsmark," Barbara said as she pocketed her phone and moved to his side. "Dick, what's going on? You're acting like-" she stopped as soon as he pulled up a local news feed, which showed a once luxurious mansion in absolute ruin. Underneath, a rolling banner of words read 'Justice League attacks Avengers Headquarters. Reduces it to rubble.' "That's bull-" Barbara began to say.

"They have evidence," Dick cut in as his fingers danced across the keyboard. He brought up an enhanced image of the attacker shooting up from the rubble. The image had been enhanced by the media, so that it gave a clear shot of the attacker's face.

"Impossible..." Barbara muttered under her breath, as she stared at the picture of Kara Zor-El. Onne of her best friends. Someone she trusted with her life. Someone who she had saved before. Had just started a war that could destroy the planet.

XXXXXXXX

"Mother," She said as she landed after her rapid flight. "Ready the armies," she continued, "double the guard. Tell them to watch for any incoming attacks."

"From where, daughter?" Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons replied as she exited the throne room. "The gods have not decreed-"

"We may be at war," Diana cut in sharply, using a tone that she rarely used in front of her mother. "I fear that the Wakandans or the Atlanteans may strike. And they are formidable opponents." She continued as the two of them walked towards the city walls.

"They would not dare," Hippolyta replied firmly as she moved heer hand to the hilt of her sword,"that would break our treaty with-"

"They may believe we broke the treaty first," Diana said swiftly as she faced her mother. "Someone attacked the headquarters of the Avengers. And the Justice League is a primary suspect. And since I am a member, Themescyra may be targeted."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"_Team, to the tac room now!"_ Echoed over the entire base, forcing all members into action. Within minutes, all fifteen currently present members where gathered in one room. All of them faced the stoically-faced Connor Kent, otherwise known as Superboy. Everybody present both respected and was intimidated by him, more do to his imposing physique than his familial relationships.

"What's going on?" Garfield Logan, also known as Beast Boy, asked with a yawn.

"This," Connor replied sharply as he pointed to the large display screen. "Nightwing contacted me two minutes ago. Apparently Supergirl attacked the Avengers. Obviously," he said as he inhaled deeply, "we know she wouldn't do that. But I don't think the Avengers will think that way. That's why we're on threat level orange. Now..."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"...obviously we need to think of the student's safety first," Xavier said as he intertwined his fingers. "I the face of attack from the Justice League, I believe it would be best to release them into the care of a third party."

"Who?" Scott Summers replied as he slapped his hands against his knees. "Not the Avengers. They can't even protect themselves. And not to S.H.I.E.L.D either," he paused briefly before continuing. "They'll roll over to the MRD's demands and have all the children registered and collared."

"What other options do we have, Scott?" Xavier said firmly as he stared his ex-protege down. "We can't lock them up in the danger room. I don't plan on instigating violence, but we must be prepared for what might come our way."

XXXXXXX

"Reed!" Susan Richards said as she opened the laboratory doors, only for her normally reclusive husband to push past her. "Reed the-"

"I know, Sue," Reed Richards replied as the two of them hurried down the hall. "Ben and Johnny are already on their way there, to assist with the cleanup. I'm going there now to see if I can collect any evidence."

"I'm going with you," Susan said, not as a request, but as a fact. "Any word on Spider-man's condition?"

"He's been moved to the Hospital," Reed said as the doors to the hangar, which contained the newest model of the Fantasticar, their trademark vehicle. The two of them sat down in the pilot and co-pilot's seat, seconds before taking off into the night air. They sped over the city rooftops, heading strait for the plume of smoke that jutted up out from the ground, right where Avengers Mansion was. Or rather, where it was supposed to be. Fire engines, Ambulances and police cars formed a perimeter around the rubble, their lights flooding the area as they landed. As soon as the touched down, two officers approached.

"F.D.N.Y. Just pulled Captain America out of the rubble, mam," the man said as he followed Sue towards the smoke. Passing several paramedics as the man continued, "he said that Spider-woman was ..." he radio beeped, cutting him off. "Yes?" the officer said into the radio, "Understood." He turned to Sue and relayed, "they've just pulled the Wasp out of the basement. She's unconscious with a broken arm and a laceration across the temple."

"Good," Sue replied hastily as they passed the last line of officers, and reached the remains of the outer walls. To her left, she saw Ben Grim lifting a portion of wall. And just past him there was her brother, helping clear smaller rubble away from the site. He was not currently lit in flame, to avoid starting another explosion. "Any word o the other Avengers?"

"Captain America and Iron Man have been sent to the hospital," The officer said as the two of them stepped past some rubble. "Six civilians where injured when the building went down. All of them where on the street."

"What about the Osborne suite attack?" Sue asked as she turned to face the man.

"One injury," the officer replied, "we think the attacker wanted to toy with him a bit. Iron Man interrupted her," he continued with a pant. "She bolted. No idea where she went."

"You sure it was a she?" Sue asked, knowing full well what could happen if there was a false accusation. _But if the accusation is right, _she thought with a grimace as she observed the area. She had this nervous feeling in her gut that something big was about to happen. And in her heart, she knew it wasn't going to be very pretty.

XXXXXXX

"Batman to all founding members," he said as he examined the instruments in front of him. "I'm currently cloaked above the remains of Avengers Mansion. The Bat-plane's computer is showing me no residual temporal energies. It wasn't the Justice lords. And it wasn't the crime syndicate," he said as more information flashed in front of him.

"Shape-shifter, perhaps?" the disembodied voice of Superman replied.

"How many shape-shifters could mimic a Kryptonian?" The Martian Manhunter replied from the watchtower. "Even I can't properly mimic every aspect."

"Then that leaves only one option," Batman said firmly as something shook the plane. "I-" the plane lurched. To much to be just atmospheric disturbance, so he looked out the window, to see the ground rushing up to meet him. At the last second, he popped the seal of the roof, and jumped out. He rolled and came up to his feet. "I've been made," he snapped as a large man covered in a orange rock-like outer layer approached. He reached into his belt and pulled out a smoke pellet. He ran forward as he threw it, hitting the man square in the eyes as he did so, blinding him. He knew that he wouldn't last long in a fight against the man alone. And he definitely wouldn't be able to escape once he was spotted by the police and other superheroes littering the area.

"Sue!" the rock-man shouted as he waved his fists in the air, presumably unable to see. "Johnny! Somebody grab the sneaky bastard! I can't see! Some kinda smoke or somethin'." Batman ducked under the man's arms and sprinted for the nearest building. Unfortunately, he ran strait into an invisible wall. He turned to see a woman with shoulder-length blonde hair in a blue form-fitting suit. He recognized her as the Invisible Woman, co-leader of the Fantastic Four. She was on his list, being one of the Avengers most powerful allies. He knew she was the most powerful member of her team, with the ability to create force fields, and turn invisible. By now, he knew that she most likely had a cage around him. He knew there was no escape. Only the possibility of being let go.

"I'm not here to hurt you," he said firm tone as he explored his options.

"Tell that to Cap," the rock-man, who Bruce recognized as being 'The Thing.' According to all evidence, he was the muscle of the Fantastic Four. He theorized that it would take someone on Super-man's strength level to hurt him. Definitely not someone he wanted to fight. Nor did he want to fight the thirty police officers who surrounded him, pointing their weapons. When he ran through the numbers in his head, he knew there was no way he was getting out of this on his own. So he calmly put his hands over his head and got down on his knees.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Peter!" his Aunt screeched as she sprinted through the doorway, into the hospital room he was lying in. She crushed him with a hug, causing a bout of pain to erupt from his ribs as she did so. "Don't you do that to me again!" she whispered as she broke away from him, and planted her hands on his cheeks. "And I know what you did," she said as she cast a nervous glance towards the slightly open door. "Why _ you _where attacked, and not anybody else."

"I..." Peter began to say, as thoughts began to run through his mind. Obviously, he now knew that his Aunt knew his secret. He knew it would have ramifications in both the close present and far future. "I...uh..." He was cut off by two more bodies walked into the room. Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, the latter of the two sporting an arm in a sling.

"Mr Parker," Stark said in a grave tone as he tapped his foot on the ground. "Perhaps it would be best if she where to leave now and-" He was cut off by Aunt May turning to face him.

"I'm staying," she said firmly with steel in her voice. "I've know his 'little secret' Mr Stark. Now I want to know," she huffed, "what happened to my nephew?" The two founding Avengers exchanged glances before continuing.

"Very well," Stark sighed as he took a step forward. "We believe that tonight was a pre-empative strike by the Justice League," he continued as he moved to the other side of the bed. "The Mansion was struck first because that's where we where vulnerable," Stark paused as he wiped his brow. "He was the closest secondary target," he finished as he indicated towards Peter.

"It's impressive that you could hold her off," Captain America remarked as he shuffled his feet. "We'll leave you two alone," he said as he used his good arm to lead Stark out of the room. This left Peter alone with his Aunt once more, to talk. He was just caught off-guard by the subject.

"A pretty young lady stopped by to see you," she said with a half smile. "Blonde, with a ponytail. She seemed very nice." That made him lurch a little bit inside. Kara had been at his house after leaving the construction site. She could have killed his Aunt in less than a second. _She could have..._ he thought as he looked around the room. _If they really wanted to start something, they would have made it personal, called us out. They didn't do that. They only went for the public face of the Avengers. And none of them know who I am or where I live...only she knows that. _Peter Parker definitely had a lot to mull over for the next few hours. They all would.

XXXXXXX

"Mercy," Luthor said as he reached the set of doors. "Close the doors behind me. Stay on this side," he finished before walking through thee doors and into the dark room. Only a single light hung over top of a long table, which had twelve individuals sitting at it, and one more body standing in the corner.

"Sorry gentlemen," Luthor said as he took a seat at the head of the table. "Board meeting kept me. Now-"

"Everything's going as planned, I presume?" the man who was simply known as Deathstroke said as he placed his hands on the table. "I've got several clients waiting for me to act," he said as several nods followed around the room. "It seems as though Tony Stark is a popular fellow."

"He is," Luthor replied with a smirk. "And the sooner that you could remove his head the better, he's bad for business," Luthor sighed as he continued to speak. "Phase one is complete. The Avengers base of operations has been terminated. Captain America should be off active duty for at least a week."

"And," the criminal mastermind known as Black Mask said. "My associates say that they've taken the Batman into custody. That will both slow the league operations down and rile them up."

"How so?" The man named Red Skull asked from across the table.

"The Justice League does not approve of any operations," Luthor snapped briskly. "Unless all founding members weigh in. Without Batman, they will be forced to find a replacement. Which will demoralize them as well."

"They can't operate without a rat with wings" Parker Robins, known as the Hood, smirked. "Pathetic," he finished, as Luthor shot him a death-glare.

"And your operation was brought down by a man in a unitard," Luthor replied firmly as he folded his hands. "The Batman is not one to be underestimated. He is the League's tactical leader. They will retaliate."

"The Spider is more resourceful than you know," another man, known as the Kingpin said in an authoritative tone. "He's taken down entire hit squads while unarmed. He even took out your hit-man," the fat man said as he indicated towards Deathstroke. "Who you claim has subdued the Batman on several occasions."

"He was supposed to lose," Luthor snapped back. _I will not be bullied by common criminals!_ He thought with a snarl._ Who are they to presume that they are in charge? I called this meeting!_ "Rest assured," Luthor said as he crossed his arms across his chest. "That Deathstroke will be able to complete his part of phase two. As will the rest of you."

"You know," the only female in the room said from where she stood in the corner. "It would be so much easier for me to kill the Spider," she smiled as she slipped to be at Luthor's side. She ran her fingers up and down his neck as she continued. "Just give me five minutes...maybe ten," she smiled.

"No," the kingpin growled, "Spider-man is mine! And you already jeopardized the mission by your little-"

"I would be _very_ careful about what comes out of your mouth next Wilson," the woman said with a fierce tone as she glared at he man, who crumpled where he sat. All the while the woman continued to caress Luthor's neck. Half as a gentle stroke. Half as a threat to snap his neck. Which he had no doubt that she could do. "Or else you'll get the same treatment that I gave the spider. And I know how much you'd like that."

XXXXX

"They've got Batman," Flash panted as he came to a stop, just outside the Hall of Justice. Three bodies remained outside. Green Lantern, Hawkman and Guardian. All three heroes nodded in response. "What's the situation here?"

"We've moved all non-essential personnel out of the building," The Green Lantern replied stiffly, "we're moving shop to the cave. It's got all the facilities we need. Diana and Clark are heading to Washington, hopefully to get this thing under control before-"

"Look out!"

_**KKRRAA-KKOOMM!**_

In a flash of light, the three members of the Justice League where thrown backwards. Something sizzled as the concrete flew around. As the dust settled, Wally could see three figures standing tall. One was muscular, wearing thick plate armour and wielding a hammer in his right hand. The second was a woman with a black leather jumpsuit, with a lightning bolt insignia. The third was a man with a set of three claws on each hand.

"_Have at thee!" _the hammer-wielding man shouted as he swung. Chaos ensued. Absolute chaos. Flash managed to speed out of the way of a bolt of lightning. But he was to slow to avoid a beam of energy, which hit his side, sending him to the ground. Before he could react, the clawed man was on top, forcing Flash to lash out with his fist, striking the man's face. It hurt like hell, almost as if he had struck a steel wall. And to make matters worse, the man was barely phased. But Flash had a trick up his sleeve, striking the man's throat sixty times in a second. That forced the man back, allowing Flash to get to his feet. To his left, the Green Lantern was using his ring to block hammer strike after hammer strike, while Hawkman and Guardian managed to keep the lightning-bolt woman busy, even as clouds gathered over head, and more lightning hit the ground. With a single bolt, the entrance to the hall of Justice was destroyed. Leaving the seven heroes to fight over what remained of the once grand building.

"Retreat!" Green Lantern shouted as he took to the skies, wrapping his teammates in a green bubble as he did so. Now, all Flash could do was watch as the pillar of truth shrank away in the distance. And there wasn't anything he could do about it. Nothing at all.

_**A/N: Both the Hall of Justice & Avengers Mansion are gone, wow. Things have reached their breaking point, haven't they?**_


	10. A Dark Knight

"The Justice League is in absolute chaos," Luthor smiled as he paced the length of the room. Only two other bodies joined him in the room. One was Ra's Al Gul, head of the league of assassins. The other was Deathstroke, Luthor's go-to personal assassin. "By now they'll have re-located their planetary base of operations to Mount Justice."

"And the Avengers?" Ra's Al Gul enquired, "they'll be quick to mount a counter-offensive. And I'm not talking about that bit of Skullduggery Osborne pulled with his hit squad. I say we should-"

"Ra's," Luthor smiled as he paced the length of the room. "We won. Let's enjoy that fact for now. All that remains for us to do is watch the heroes kill each other." he really enjoyed being the smartest man in the room sometimes. It re-assured him that he was their superior. That he was everyone's superior.

"Well I wouldn't say that's _all _there is to do," a female voice snickered as it's owner causally ripped the door off it's hinges. She strode in as if she owned the place, which she didn't. And all three of them knew who she was. She was the completely perfect clone of Supergirl, save for her personality. That had been changed so that she was more direct and arrogant. Not to mention aggressive, as she casually swatted away one of Ra's Al Gul's hidden bodyguards.

"What the hell are you-" Deathstroke began as he drew a sidearm.

"Put that toy away honey," she cooed as she traced a finger across the mercenary's chest. "And I'll make it worth your while," she smirked as she drew herself away from Deathstroke. Luthor frowned, he had intended to only use the Supergirl copy to attack the Avengers. But now, he found himself unable to get rid of her. Not only was she completely invulnerable to everything, save Kryptonite. But she was also to smart and wily. She had linked a self-installed heart monitor to a program that would divulge the recordings Luthor had made during the super-villain cabal to both the Justice League and the Avengers. _Add that to the fact that she could kill us all without a second thought, _he grimaced as he recalled his encounter with an alternate-dimension Superman, who had killed his own Lex Luthor. _She's too dangerous, to smart, and yet to valuable all at once. _

"What do you want?" Luthor barked.

"Well," she cooed as she floated into the air, as a simple demonstration of her power. "I think I could use a proper outfit. Maybe somewhere to call my own...I see you've got a nice penthouse that's available," she finished with a coy smile.

"Out of the question," Luthor barked, "I-"

"Oh," she smiled as she hovered directly in front of him. She was wearing a short skirt and a low-cut midriff bearing white t-shirt. Both of which did an exceptional job of showing off her Kryptonian physique. He guessed that there was a specific reason for her attire, it would serve to persuade men to listen to her. "You mean you _don't_ want company? The two of us...all alone in that big, luxurious mansion...all alone. I'd be completely helpless and-"

"Enough!" Luthor growled bitterly. "Phase two is nearly complete. All that remains for us to do is watch the heroes kill each other off. Then we-"

"Can move in on the territory of our alternate-universe companions," the Supergirl clone smirked as she leaned back in midair. "Force them out of business. Kill them off. Make them work for you," she continued with an exhausted sigh. "But Lex, there's one little teeny tiny detail that needs to be made clear," she said as she flipped over in mid-air, so she now looked as if she was lying on her stomach.

"And what might that be?" Luthor snapped as both Deathstroke and Ra's Al Gul gave him hard glances.

"The Spider, Lex," he smirked as she put her finger on his chin. "He's mine, understand? None of your goons can touch him. And if they do... well you saw what I did to the Avengers, right?"

* * *

"I still strongly disagree with you being discharged," Aunt May said as the two of them walked into the house. He followed her closely, reserving a smile as he did so. It was in her nature to worry about him, and there was nothing he could do to change that. "You where assaulted," she said as she turned to face him. "By a...Oh, hello!" She finished, clearly talking to someone else, who Peter turned to see. His heart both leaped and sank at the sight of Kara standing in the driveway.

"I'll uh..." he muttered to his Aunt. "I'll just be a few minutes, okay?"

"Alright," she replied in a reserved tone, as he cautiously made his way to Kara.

"You've got ten seconds to explain what the hell that was," Peter snapped as he gave her a hard glare. He did his best to maintain an aggressive demeanour, but found himself somewhat drawn towards her crystal blue eyes. And he could not help but get flashbacks of being attacked, though he knew that he didn't have all the facts. He knew that if she wanted him dead, he'd be dead already.

"Black Kryptonite," she replied quickly. "It splits a kryptonian in half...one side gets all the nice qualities...the other doesn't."

"And you have proof of this?" Peter replied. He wanted to trust her, but he found himself unable to do so after all that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. Added to the fact that he had only known her for a few weeks, she had a lot to prove.

"I was halfway across the country!" she said in a pleading tone. "I saw it happening on television and rushed over, to make sure you where safe," she continued with a slight sigh. "My cousin and the rest of the League are ready to mount a full-scale response for what happened to the Hall of Justice. Th-"

"What happened?" Peter asked, somewhat perplexed. He had been in the meeting that immediately followed the attack on the Mansion. There had been no mention of any retaliation effort. _Though it's not a stretch to think that this would be 'above my head,' _he thought with a sigh.

"Three Avengers went and demolished the place," Kara replied somewhat stiffly. "Luckily no one was inside. But a couple where still outside, and they barely escaped."

"Then why are you still talking with me?" Peter replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Because I-" she began to say, before pausing, and turning her head slightly as she did so. He watched as she pricked her ears slightly, as if she was tuning into a sound. "I have to go," she sighed with defeat. "I swear, I didn't have anything to do with what happened." She finished before she slipped away, and he turned back towards the house, where Aunt May was standing in the doorway. He slipped past her and into the living room. She followed him, and they both sat down, adjacent from one another. He let out a sigh, as he prepared himself to have the conversation that he had known was coming for a long time. Not that that made it any easier.

* * *

"Where have you been?" Clark snapped as her feet touched down on the Kansas soil. She tried to ignore him, but that was made impossible as he blocked her path. "I paged you three hours ago."

"No," she replied briskly, "you paged all 'active' members. I'm not an active member," she finished as she felt her arm being grabbed, something that would be impossible if Clark wasn't a Kryptonian as well. A fact which annoyed her to no end. "Remember?"

"You're the reason that we're in this mess," Clark said firmly as he maintained his grip, despite her struggling. "Remember that? Remember that because you got kidnapped, and didn't trust me enough to help?" He said as Kara finally pulled out of his grip.

"I had no way of getting in contact," she replied with a snap as she circled around her cousin. She did her best to maintain a civil tone, but that wasn't going to last for long. She could feel the rage building up inside herself. And it was all aimed at her cousin, who stood on the spot with his mightier-than-thou posture. "I didn't know if there where any League members in the area, so I had to improvise."

"And you chose wrong, evidently," Clark snapped. "Because now we're-"

"We?" Kara replied with a huff. "Who's the one who let those 'meetings' turn into a finger-pointing contest?"

"We're in the right," Clark said as the light in the house turned on. "They're in the wrong. Hunt-and-kill reams? Government liaison? A powder keg if there ever was one," he continued mercilessly as the front door to the house opened, and Ma Kent walked out onto the porch.

"Tell me," Kara muttered as she began to walk away. "Have you talked with anyone, other than those so called shouting matches?"

"There's no need to-" Clark began to shout.

"Maybe you should start with that," Kara said firmly as she made her way to the house. "Seeing as-" something hit her across the cheek. Much harder than any human could hit her. Which only left her cousin. She turned hard, and struck him in the face, with a closed fist. The impact created a sonic boom, which sent him flying back across the field. His body made a deep trench in the ground as he landed, but she knew he was unharmed. It would take a lot more than that to hurt him. So that was why she took off into the sky without a second thought. She needed someone to talk to. She was confused. She couldn't talk to her family, and she wasn't sure if she should talk to Peter Parker. That left her options severely limited. To one person, in fact.

* * *

"Barbra," Dick barked from where he sat in the batcomputer's main chair. "E.T.A on a secure line to Tim?" He finished as numbers flashed across the screen, and the Batman's first sidekick absorbed all the information. Including the feed which showed an intense sonic disturbance, which was usually caused by fighter jets. He did the math in his head, and could tell that whatever it was, it was heading right for them. "Alfred," he snapped as he clicked the mansion's P.A system on, "brace for impact. It looks as though we've got a jet coming our way."

"Dick, look!" Barbara said from where she sat, in an adjacent chair. She was pointing at a smaller screen, which was used for security outside the mansion. It showed a blonde-haired figure touching down just outside the door.

"How the hell-" Dick began to mutter as he recognized Supergirl.

"She's got X-ray vision," Barbara replied with a quip. "She probably just took a peek."

"The whole cave is lined with lead," Dick said as Supergirl walked towards the entrance of Wayne Manor. "It'd be impossible to-"

"Not notice?" Barbara replied as she got up from the chair. "It pretty much says 'don't look here. Batman isn't right here in this cave underneath the house of the one person in Gotham who can afford to be Batman'," she finished as the door opened, and Supergirl was let inside by Alfred.

"Well she'd better have some good news at least," Dick said as the feed from New York came in, showing Tim Drake and Donna Troy in a secluded motel room. "How about you two?"

"We've reconnoitred the Baxter Building, but nothing's turned up yet," Tim said over the feed. "Nothing's gone in or out. So unless they can teleport from one place to another, I don't think Batman's inside."

"So we're back to square one," Barbara muttered as Supergirl floated down the steps, and joined them. Even without looking, Dick could tell that she was distraught. He could almost smell the tears. And he could definitely hear the sobs. Coupled with the smell of cow manure, he guessed that she had just flown from the Kent farm in Kansas.

"Not quite," Donna said as she pushed Tim out of the way in a playful manner. "According to a quick internet search, there's an entire apartment building owned by the Rand corporation, who's CEO is also a founding member of the Heroes for Hire," she continued with a slight smirk. "And the boy wonder here managed to hack their security system. Guess who we saw coming in through a secret entrance? None other than the rich-and-powerful Iron Man himself."

"Great," Dick said as he stood up for the first time in hours. "Tim, put out a call to the Titans. Donna, same with the Justice League. We'll be taking the Batplane, and will rendezvous in three hours," he said before turning his head away from the screens. "Barbara, Supergirl. I want everything packed away in ten minutes. We're going in heavy. If you think we might need it, we will. I'm going to get in contact with Black Bat, and tell her the plan."

XXXXXX

"Okay, you don't just drop in like this," Barbara Gordon said as she loaded several satchels of smoke pellets and batarangs into a crate. "It's the least like you thing imaginable. What happened?"

"I uh..." Kara began as she wiped her eyes. "Kal and I...had a bit of a fight. I sort of...knocked him across the field."

"Good," Barbara said with a shrug as she loaded the crate into the plane. "Honestly, he's kind of a dick sometimes. I can't tell you how often he's underestimated one of us non-powered heroes. What was the fight about, anyway?"

"Hmph," Kara sighed as she loaded another crate. "He was yelling at me for putting us in this mess. I told him off for letting those shouting matches go even more sour than they should have. He then told me off for not calling him during that truck incident."

"Ouch," Barbara shrugged. "That's the time you called in that super-cute Spider-guy, right?"

"Batgirl!" she replied with a gasp.

"What?" Barbara said with an innocent shrug. "I'm the one who looked up his information, remember? He's super-cute, I'm just saying. But lemmie guess, Big-Blue's forbidden you from even looking at him?" she continued as Dick approached, "Or maybe he's just afraid you'll wind up getting hurt, and is doing his best to protect a member of his family. Just a suggestion. Take it or leave it."

* * *

"I've gotta go Aunt May," was what he had said as he rushed out the door. That had been two hours ago, when he had started to swing through the streets. He had just gotten a message from Captain America, giving him the location of the new, secret base. Which happened to be an apartment building owned by the Rand corporation. In less than twenty minutes, he had walked through the secret entrance and down the halls. He had turned a corner and entered a room full of Superheroes.

A long and dreery discussion had followed, with each and every person taking their turn in talking. Eventually, he managed to speak up.

"Who was sent on the retaliation attack?" Peter asked, and all he received was a series of glances.

"There wasn't one," Captain America said as he put his hands down on the table. "We've been to busy with our recovery effort. And interrogating our prisoner. He's, well..." the Captain sighed, "a tough one to crack. I..." His voice trailed off in Peter's mind as he began to think hard. The fact that there had been no retaliation effort by the Avengers worried him. It allowed Peter to come to one conclusion only. And it was a conclusion that he knew none of the Avengers where going to like, or agree with. He knew that there was only one person in the building who might be willing to help him. Which was why he headed for where he had been told the Batman was being held.

He walked into the room, thankful that there where no security cameras, due to the fact that the building was still under construction. On one side there was a long table, with the man's equipment all laid out. Apparently Tony Stark had tried too remove the man's armour, but had been electrocuted in the process. So that had been left alone, still on the man who it belonged to, who sat on a small makeshift bench inside a smaller room that was locked from the outside, with a concrete ceiling. He entered said room silently.

"Why did you send the Supergirl to demolish our headquarters?" Peter asked as a test for the man, who watched him with a statue-like posture.

"We didn't," the Batman said with a voice like cold steel.

"And that's what I needed to hear," Peter said as he sat down. "A mutu-"

"Kara talked to you, then?" the Batman cut in. "She's told you that we weren't responsible?"

"I figured it out myself," Peter shrugged as the two of them stared each other down. "Unfortunately, I don't think the Avengers will even hear me out."

"They have good reason not to," the Batman said coldly. "You are the one speaking with the enemy, after all."

"And the only other member of the Justice League who might believe me could very well be on the other side of the planet," Peter said as he braced his elbows against his knees.

"Which means you need something from me," the Batman scowled. "But I can't help you from in here. I'd need to be out of here to help stop the coming war."

"Forgive me if I'm a little uneasy about what I think you're getting at," Peter replied. "Breaking you out won't exactly be good P.R. Not to mention nearly impossible," Peter finished as he got to his feet, mimicking the motion of heading for the door.

"It will take less than a day for the Justice League to properly re-organize," the Batman said coldly, forcing Peter to turn around and face him. "Maybe another day and they'll launch a retaliation. And I don't think either side will pull their punches."

"On that," Peter sighed, "we agree." He finished as he did something he prayed he wouldn't regret. He opened the door, and let the Batman walk out on his own free will. _Oh god i hope this is worth it,_ Peter thought as he watched the man disappear into the hall, after he had grabbed his gear.

**_Well, things are at their boiling point! I'd love to hear your feedback!_**

**_What do you think Batman has planned?_**

**_What do you think Dark Supergirl has in mind for Peter?_**


End file.
